HYIP-Man: May 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Mozilla Released Firefox 2.0.0.4

What's New in Firefox 2.0.0.4

  • Release Date: May 30, 2007

  • Security Update: The following security issues have been fixed.

  • Windows Vista Support: More enhancements and fixes for Windows Vista are included, with the following caveats.

  • New Languages: Afrikaans (af) and Belarusian (be) are now available. Beta releases for several new languages are also available for testing.

  • Earlier Changes: For information about previous changes, please see the Firefox 2.0.0.3 Release Notes

  • Firefox 2 Features: For an overview, please see Firefox 2 Features.

 

Labels: ,

Sunday, May 27, 2007
Gmail Increased attachment limit to 20 MB!
Now you can start sharing more of those home videos, large presentations and files you just can't seem to get smaller. Gmail have doubled the allowable attachment size to 20 MB to make your Gmail space even more useful. Learn More
Monday, May 14, 2007
Happy Mother's Day
Sunday, May 13, 2007
KDE 4.0-alpha1 Released: "Knut"
The KDE Community is happy to announce the immediate availability of the first alpha release of the KDE Desktop Environment, version 4.0. This release is a basis for the integration of powerful new technologies that will be included in KDE 4. Read on for more details.

Highlights of KDE 4.0 Alpha 1 are: KDE Official News

  • A new visual appearance through Oxygen
  • New frameworks to build applications with, providing vastly improved hardware and multimedia integration (through Solid and Phonon), spelling and grammar checking, to name just a few
  • New applications that focus on a smooth user experience, such as Dolphin, the file manager, and Okular, the document viewer

The desktop in its budding glory

KDE 4.0 Alpha 1 marks the end of the addition of large features to the KDE base libraries and shifts the focus onto integrating these new technologies into applications and the base desktop. The next few months will be spent on bringing the desktop into shape after two years of frenzied development leaving very little untouched.

The final release of KDE 4.0 is expected in late October 2007.

The work on the framework makes application development easier and more satisfying. This will result in a crop of new features and applications over the next few years, underlining the position KDE holds as the leading Free Desktop and bringing Free Software to new users worldwide. A detailed release schedule can be found at techbase.kde.org, the new technical resource accompanying the platform, that provides extensive and high-quality documentation about KDE.

More information such as screenshots and installation instructions can be found in the KDE 4.0-alpha1 Visual Guide.

Labels: ,

the best antivirus software
The latest test from virus.gr includes 52 different antivirus applications. They were rigorously tested using 174,770 virus samples, and the settings of each application were tweaked to ensure that they all caught maximum number of viruses.
 
Rank:
 
 1.  Kaspersky version 7.0.0.43 beta - 99.23%
 2.  
Kaspersky version 6.0.2.614 - 99.13%
 3.  
Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.308 - 99.13%
 4. 
ZoneAlarm with KAV Antivirus version 7.0.337.000 - 99.13%
 5. 
F-Secure 2007 version 7.01.128 - 98.56%
 6. 
BitDefender Professional version 10 - 97.70%
 7.  
BullGuard version 7.0.0.23 - 96.59%
 8. 
Ashampoo version 1.30 - 95.80%
 9. 
eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 94.43%
10.
Nod32 version 2.70.32 - 94.00%
11.
CyberScrub version 1.0 - 93.27%
12.
Avast Professional version 4.7.986 - 92.82%
13.
AVG Anti-Malware version 7.5.465 - 92.14%
14.
F-Prot version 6.0.6.4 - 91.35%
15.
McAfee Enterprise version 8.5.0i+AntiSpyware module - 90.65%
16.
Panda 2007 version 2.01.00 - 90.06%
17.
Norman version 5.90.37 - 88.47%
18.
ArcaVir 2007 - 88.24%
19.
McAfee version 11.0.213 - 86.13%
20.
Norton Professional 2007 - 86.08%
 
21. Rising AV version 19.19.42 - 85.46%
22. Dr. Web version 4.33.2 - 85.09%
23. PC-Cillin 2007 version 15.00.1450 - 84.96%
24. Iolo version 1.1.8 - 83.35%
25. Virus Chaser version 5.0a - 79.51%
26. VBA32 version 3.11.4 - 77.66%
27. Sophos Sweep version 6.5.1 - 69.79%
28. ViRobot Expert version 5.0 - 69.53%
29. Antiy Ghostbusters version 5.2.1 - 65.95%
30. Zondex Guard version 5.4.2 - 63.79%
31. Vexira 2006 version 5.002.62 - 60.07%
32. V3 Internet Security version 2007.04.21.00 - 55.09%
33. Comodo version 2.0.12.47 beta - 53.94%
34. Comodo version 1.1.0.3 - 53.39%
35. A-Squared Anti-Malware version 2.1 - 52.69%
36. Ikarus version 5.19 - 50.56%
37. Digital Patrol version 5.00.37 - 49.80%
38. ClamWin version 0.90.1 - 47.95%
39. Quick Heal version 9.00 - 38.64%
40. Solo version 5.1 build 5.7.3 - 34.52%
41. Protector Plus version 8.0.A02 - 33.13%
42. PcClear version 1.0.4.3 - 27.14%
43. AntiTrojan Shield version 2.1.0.14 - 20.25%
44. PC Door Guard version 4.2.0.35- 19.95%
45. Trojan Hunter version 4.6.930 - 19.20%
46. VirIT version 6.1.75 - 18.78%
47. E-Trust PestPatrol version 8.0.0.6 - 11.80%
48. Trojan Remover version 6.6.0 - 10.44%
49. The Cleaner version 4.2.4319 - 7.26%
50. True Sword version 4.2 - 2.20%
51. Hacker Eliminator version 1.2 - 1.43%
52. Abacre version 1.4 - 0.00%
 
 
 
 
  • The test was made on 23 April-10 May 2007, using Windows XP Professional SP2 on a P4 3000 Mhz, 1024MB DDRAM.
  • All programs tested had the latest versions, upgrades and updates and they were tested using their full scanning capabilities e.g. heuristics, full scan etc.
  • The default settings of each program were not used, in order for each program to achieve its maximum detection rate. Because of this, there is a possibility for the tested programs to detect a few false positives.
  • All programs were updated on 22 April 2007, between 10.00AM and 13.00PM GMT.
  • The 174770 virus samples were chosen using VS2000 according to Kaspersky, F-Prot, Nod32, Dr.Web, BitDefender and McAfee antivirus programs. Each virus sample was unique by virus name, meaning that AT LEAST 1 antivirus program detected it as a new virus.
  • ALL virus samples were unpacked and the only samples that were kept were the ones that were packed using external-dos-packers (that means not winzip, winrar, winace etc).
  • The virus samples had the correct file extension using a special program (Renexts) and were unique, according to checksum32 filesize.
  • Most "fake" virus samples were removed, as well as "garbage" files.
  • The programs MKS_VIR , PER and IPArmor were not tested because there was no english demo version available.
  • The programs Anti-Hacker Expert , Command , Extendia AVK , GDATA AVK , BOClean , UNA , VET and Freedom were not tested because there was no demo version available.
  • Thorough mode was not used in VBA32 due to extremely slow scan process.
  • A-Squared Anti-Malware and eTrust PestPatrol are anti-trojan/anti-spyware programs, not antivirus programs
  • F-Prot was tested using its command line scanner (options /adware /applications /report /streams /maxdepth=4 /heurlevel=4) because its GUI kept crashing.
  • Windows Live OneCare, BKAV, PC Tools kept crashing while scanning the samples.
  • TheShield uses the exact same engine as VirobotExpert.
  • Avira uses the exact same engine as AntiVir.
  • Fire uses the exact same engine as Solo.
  • MKS_VIR uses the exact same engine as ArcaVir.
  • VirusBuster uses the exact same engine as Vexira.
  • BullGuard uses the exact same engine as BitDefender free edition.
  • Avast Professional uses the exact same engine as Avast free edition.
  • AVG Anti-Malware uses the exact same engine as AVG Antivirus free edition plus the Ewido scan engine, so it has better detection than AVG Antivirus free edition. (More information here )
  • A-squared Anti-Malware Professional uses the exact same engine as A-squared free edition.
  • InVircible did not include a "typical" scanner-function and could not be tested.
  • V-Catch checks only mail accounts and could not be tested.
  • DOS-Based scanners were not tested.

The following file types were used.

SH, ELF, COM, EXE, PL, BAT, PRC, DOC, XLS, BIN, MDB, IMG, PPT, VBS, MSG, VBA, OLE, HTM, INI, SMM, TD0, REG, CLASS, HTA, JS, VI_, URL, PHP, WMF, HLP, XML, SCR, PIF, SHS, WBT, CSC, MAC, DAT, CLS, STI, INF, HQX, XMI, SIT.

The virus samples were divided into these categories, according to the type of the virus :

  • File = BeOS, FreeBSD, Linux, Mac, Palm, OS2, Unix, BinaryImage, BAS viruses, MenuetOS.
  • MS-DOS = MS-DOS viruses.
  • Windows = Win.*.* viruses.
  • Macro = Macro, Multi and Formula viruses.
  • Malware = Adware, DoS, Constructors, Exploit, Flooders, Nukers, Sniffers, SpamTools, Spoofers, Virus Construction Tools, Droppers, PolyEngines.
  • Script = ABAP, BAT, Corel, HTML, Java, Scripts, MSH, VBS, WBS, Worms, PHP, Perl, Ruby viruses.
  • Trojans-Backdoors = Trojan and Backdoor viruses.

Labels: ,

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Free Forex eBook (Read & Learn)
Complete Forex manual with detailed examples.

Forex eBook - Read and Learn (Click Here)

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, May 09, 2007
New Version of Google Analytics!
Google will be activating this new version on all current Analytics accounts over the next few weeks.

What's different?
  • Email and export reports: Schedule or send ad-hoc personalized report emails and export reports in PDF format.
  • Custom Dashboard: No more digging through reports. Put all the information you need on a custom dashboard that you can email to others.
  • Trend and Over-time Graph: Compare time periods and select date ranges without losing sight of long term trends.
  • Contextual help tips: Context sensitive Help and Conversion University tips are available from every report
  • Labels: ,

    Ubuntu plans Mobile Linux Version

    Ubuntu Linux developers plan to extend its open-source software development to handheld Internet-enabled devices.

    Developers meeting at the Ubuntu Developer Summit, which runs through the end of this week in Seville, Spain, will discuss details of the new Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project, announced on Saturday.

    Ubuntu programmers will develop a mobile version of their Debian-based Linux operating system in collaboration with Intel, which plans a new low-power processor and chipset architecture designed to allow full Internet capability on mobile devices, according to a statement published on the Ubuntu Web site.

    The move to offer a mobile and embedded version comes on the heels of a similar project that Intel is supporting: the Gnome Mobile & Embedded Initiative (GMAE), announced April 19 at the Embedded Linux Conference in Santa Clara, California. The initiative is open to developers, manufacturers, and others interested in developing mobile device applications based on Gnome-based open-source components.

    sources: solsie infoworld

    Labels: , ,

    Monday, May 07, 2007
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5 General Availability Announcement
    Red Hat is pleased to announce the general availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5 (kernel-2.6.9-55.EL) including:
     
      - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 4 for x86, AMD64/Intel(r) 64, Itanium Processor Family, POWER, S/390 and zSeries
      - Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES 4 for x86, AMD64/Intel(r) 64, Itanium Processor Family
      - Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 4 for x86, AMD64/Intel(r) 64,Itanium Processor Family
      - Red Hat Desktop 4 for x86 and AMD64/Intel(r) 64
     
    This update includes the following enhancements:
     
        New kernel features include:
     
        * RHEL4 paravirtualized kernel for i686 and x86-64 and installation of paravirt RHEL4.5 guests
        * Updated kernel support for Infiniband* NFS performance metrics (from 2.6.17-rc6)
        * EDAC for Opteron
        * diskdump support for sata_nv driver
        * diskdump support for ibmvscsi driver
        * netdump support to 8139cp driver
        * CIFS updated to 1.45
        * Clustering application support through dm device ioctls
     
        There were several bug fixes in various parts of the kernel.
        The ongoing effort to resolve these problems has resulted in
        a marked improvement in the reliability and scalability of
        Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.
     
        Hardware support enhancements:
     
        * Driver updates including
          3w-9xxx, ahci, ata_piix, bnx2, bonding, cciss, e1000, ibmvscsic, ipr, ixgb, libata, megaraid_mm, megaraid_sas,mptbase, pdc_adma, qla2100, qla2200, qla2300, qla2322, qla2400, qla2xxx, qla6312, r8169, sata_mv, sata_nv, sata_promise, sata_qstor, sata_sil, sata_sis, sata_svw, sata_sx4, sata_uli, sata_via, sata_vsc, sky2, stex, tg3.
     
        * Drivers added:
          qla3xxx, qla4xxx
     
        * Added platform support:
          + allow disabling of MSI on PHX6700/6702 SHPC
          + Intel ICH9 chipset
          + PCIe power management quirk
          + H206 processor PowerNow! with new freqency control
          + AMD quad-core systems
          + RDTSCP
          + MCE Thresholding support for AMD 0x10 family processors
          + PCI-Express support for Altix
          + eClipz
          + ppc host ethernet adapter device driver
          + SHUB2 hardware support
     
        Other notable additions:
     
        * Technology preview release of OpenOffice.org 2.0
        * WPA-Supplicant driver now included
        * automounter load balancing with replicated servers
        * Configurable location for core dumps in netdump-server
        * Selectable core dump filtering
        * Microcode update
        * Session keyring initialization PAM module
        * gdm update for new audit system
        * Linux-z/VM monitoring with established z/VM tools
        * DASD awareness for multipath-tools
        * Infiniband update from 1.0 to OFED-1.1 code base
        * Native SAS and STAT devices are now supported
        * Added Alsa support for Broadwater platforms
        * Sealevel 8-port serial cards are now supported
        * Support for SCSI-3 persistent group reservations
        * mdadm support for RAID50
        * GUI iSCSI configuration
        * multipath-tools support for DASD disks
     

    Accessing the Software
    ----------------------
     
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5 is available to existing
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscribers via RHN.  The
    channels will automatically appear in your account.
    Installable binary and source ISO images are available via
    Red Hat Network at:
     
     
    You will be required to login using a valid RHN account with active entitlements.
     
    Errata Advisories describing changes in RHEL4 are available online at:
     
     

    Bug Reporting
    -------------
     
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5 users who have assigned Technical Account Managers (TAMs) and/or Technical Partner Managers should report all bugs with this release using your current Issue Tracker account.
     
    All other users should report bugs using Red Hat's Bugzilla. To report and query for bugs in this release, you need a Bugzilla account with access to the "Red Hat Enterprise Linux" product.
     
    To report a bug via Bugzilla:
     
    1. Login to the Bugzilla home page at http://bugzilla.redhat.com. If you don't have an existing account, simply create one by going to this page:
     
     
    2. On the Bugzilla home page, choose the "New" tab.  Proceed to Step 3, "Choosing Your Product" by clicking that button at the bottom of the page.
     
    3. Choose Product "Red Hat Enterprise Linux".
     
    4. Choose Version "4.5".
     
    5. Choose the component against which you wish to report a problem, such as kernel, glibc, etc.  If you do not know the component or want to file a bug against the general product, choose "distribution" as the component.
     
    6. Choose the platform, such as: "All", "x86_64", etc.
     
    7. Provide the information about the problem you're reporting by entering information in the appropriate fields.  In the Summary field, provide a clear and descriptive abstract of the issue.  In the Description field, provide the full package versions of any components you are experiencing problems with (as packages may be updated).
     
    8. Check to make sure that all information is accurate and click the  "Commit" button to submit your problem report.
     

    Documentation
    -------------
     
    Release notes for this release are available on the Red Hat documentation site at:
       http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/
     

    Mailing Lists
    -------------
     
    Red Hat has public mailing lists for communication during all future Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 programs.
     
    * rhelv4-announce <at> redhat <dot> com
     
        A low-volume, moderated, announcement-only mailing list. Red Hat will use this list to communicate one-way information about RHEL 4 beta programs, such as notifications when updates are available or solicitations for beta feedback.
        Subscribe at:
          https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rhelv4-announce
     
    * nahant-beta-list <at> redhat <dot> com
     
        A public general discussion mailing list for beta testers of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 updates.  Subscribe at:
          https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/nahant-beta-list
     
    Thank you for participating in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.5 program.
     
    Sincerely,
     
    The Red Hat Enterprise Linux Team

    Labels: ,

    The OpenBSD 4.1 Released

    OpenBSD 4.1 logo

     

    The OpenBSD 4.1 Release:

    Released May 1, 2007
    Copyright 1997-2007, Theo de Raadt.
    ISBN 978-0-9731791-9-4
    4.1 Song: "Puffy Baba and the 40 Vendors"

    What's New
    How to install
    How to upgrade
    How to use the ports tree
    Ordering a CD set

    Labels:

    Saturday, May 05, 2007
    Google Suggest








    Labels: ,

    Microsoft, Yahoo Discussed Deal
    Recent talks between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. over how to band together betray increasing unrest at Microsoft over how to compete with Google Inc. and get in step with the booming online-advertising market.
     
    Microsoft and Yahoo discussed a possible merger or other matchup that would pair their respective strengths, say people familiar with the situation. The merger discussions are no longer active, these people say, but that doesn't preclude the two companies from some other form of cooperation.
    Whatever the outcome, Microsoft's online division could be heading for a shake-up, say people familiar with the situation. Failure by the Redmond, Wash., company to make better headway against Google in Internet search, combined with Microsoft losing a deal to Google last month to buy online-advertising specialist DoubleClick, has spurred Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to consider new action, these people say. Mr. Ballmer's frustration with the group's progress has been "palpable," said a person familiar with the company.
    Among Mr. Ballmer's options are installing new management to the online group, a fix that Microsoft has often used in the past. Also, unifying now-separate groups is an option. Currently, Microsoft's online group's services and the technology that underlies them are managed by different vice presidents, an arrangement that some in the group say hinders its ability to compete more effectively.
    Another option for Microsoft is to form a partnership with Yahoo. The two companies had worked together before; Yahoo previously provided Microsoft with search technology and advertising. Microsoft broke off that relationship last year, as it phased in its own online-ad system, which has yet to attract a critical mass of advertisers. The two companies also explored the idea of combining to form a greater competitor to Google a year ago, though those talks led nowhere.
     
    For now, Yahoo doesn't appear interested in a major deal with Microsoft, say people familiar with the situation. The Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet company's course may largely depend on a new advertising-system upgrade, called "Project Panama," whose delay last year prompted criticisms from investors and others that were directed toward the company's management. Panama is now running, and Yahoo said recently that it expects the system to contribute to its revenue, starting this quarter.
     
    Microsoft and Yahoo spokesmen declined to comment. Recent talks between the companies were reported in the New York Post Friday.
     
    Still, Microsoft has technical expertise that might benefit Yahoo. Under one possible scenario, Microsoft could manage the technical platform and infrastructure of the companies' combined Internet activities, while Yahoo's current staff could oversee the consumer parts of the businesses, such as Yahoo News, Finance and email. Yahoo is one of the world's most popular Web sites, attracting millions of consumers a day to services, which in turn attract advertisers.
     
    While Yahoo is facing increased competition to sell advertisers the graphical-display ads, such as banners, that have been its bread and butter, the company recently has shown signs of momentum. Yahoo has signed partner sites to carry ads that it brokers, including 12 newspaper-publishing companies representing more than 264 newspapers, and the Web portal of Comcast Corp. On Monday, it announced a $680 million deal to buy the 80% of online-ad exchange operator Right Media Inc. that it didn't already own.
    If merger talks are revived, whether Microsoft and Yahoo could reach an agreement remains as much of a question as it did a year ago, when similar talks ended inconclusively. Microsoft has always steered clear of large acquisitions. Yahoo has about 11,700 employees and earlier this week had a market value of about $38 billion. Yahoo shares surged $2.80, or 9.9%, to $30.98 in 4 p.m. Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading on news of the talks, raising the company's market value to around $42 billion Friday. Microsoft's shares fell 41 cents to $30.56 on Nasdaq.
     
    Short of a wholesale merger, Microsoft could spin its online group into a separately run Yahoo in return for a Yahoo stake. Yet top Yahoo executives could be a big obstacle to any deal. They believe they have found the right strategy and are wary of any combination with Microsoft, for whom Internet activities remain only a small part of its business, says one person familiar with the matter. Top Yahoo staff might leave if Microsoft acquired the company and triggered a vesting of their Yahoo options.
     
    Any integration of the two companies' operations would also be a daunting prospect. Yahoo has in recent years faced criticism, including from within, that it has been slow and hasn't held executives responsible for poor performance. It revamped its corporate structure and shuffled executives in December, in an apparent response.
     
    TALE OF THE TAPE
    Although Microsoft dwarfs Yahoo and Google, a small portion
     of the software giant's business comes from the Internet.
     

     

    Microsoft 

     YAHOO!

     Google

    Market value (5/3/07)  

     $296 billion

     $38 billion

     $147 billion

     Employees

     76,500

    11,700 

     12,200

     Fiscal 2006 Revenue

     $44.28 billion

     $6.43 billion

     $10.6 billion

     2006 Online Ad Revenue*

     $2.29 billion

     $4.56 billion

     $7.3 billion

     Headquarters

     Redmond, Wash.

    Sunnyvale, Calif.

     Mountain View, Calif.

     Year Founded

    1975 

     1994

     1998

    *Reflects Microsoft's MSN division and excludes marketing
    commissions for Yahoo and Google.
    Source: WSJ.com research

    Labels:

    Friday, May 04, 2007
    13 Things to do on a New Mandriva Free 2007 Linux Installation
    Mandriva linux is one of the more user friendly linux distributions available ,Right from it's earlier days when it was called Mandrake Linux (Later they changed name to Mandriva after Mandrake acquired another popular linux distribution ) and Desktop Linux was still infancy , Mandriva Linux has been very user friendly and unlike some other linux distributions has been quite pleasant to work with for even computer newbies.


    Now Mandriva Free 2007 Linux , though is extremely user friendly it dosent include many packages , codecs , fonts and other stuff , because of various licensing restrictions preventing distribution of codecs free and the fact that many packages are still in beta stage and their final stable version hasnt been released yet.


    Here in this article i try to explain how to install various Codecs , Applicatons and Tweaks enable ing one to use mandriva linux as a windows alternative .

    Enabling extra Repositories :

    To install many codecs , application you have to enable various extra repositories , these repositories are not activated by default in Mandriva linux : -

    Assuming you are running Gnome Desktop Environment go to Application -> System -> Terminals and launch terminal application

    Enter the super user mode by typing " su " in the command line and providing the super user password . And type the following command to enable extra repositories .

    (IMPORTANT : The version of Mandriva Linux i am using is Mandriva Free 2007 that was released back in 2006 , there is another version that has been released a few weeks back Mandriva Spring 2007 now if you are running that version many of the things described in this article should work , however while adding repositories in this step dont type the command below instead go to website : - http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/ select 2007 Spring /2007 depending on your architecture ,distribution and make a custom set of commands to activate different repositories , while selecting different repositories do not chose backports they are unstable package , select the contrib , main , plf-free , plf-nonfree and type the command genrated in terminal window after logging into super user mode )

    I have genrated the following commands from the website mentioned above for Mandriva Free 2007 , Using default servers and i586 architecture if you want to use different mirrors / architecture follow instruction given above .

    "
    urpmi.addmedia main ftp://ftp.clinet.fi/pub/mirrors/Mandrake-linux/official/2007.0/i586/media/main/release with media_info/hdlist.cz

    urpmi.addmedia contrib ftp://ftp.clinet.fi/pub/mirrors/Mandrake-linux/official/2007.0/i586/media/contrib/release with media_info/hdlist.cz

    urpmi.addmedia --update plf-free ftp://spirit.bentel.sk/mirrors/plf/mandriva/2007.0/free/release/binary/i586/ with hdlist.cz
    urpmi.addmedia --update plf-nonfree ftp://spirit.bentel.sk/mirrors/plf/mandriva/2007.0/non-free/release/binary/i586/ with hdlist.cz
    "

    Repositories on Cdrom are also enabled by default you have to deactivate them , since you have added online repository so type the following command in Terminal Window

    " urpmi.removemedia Installation Free CD "


    Note : - In Genral i dont recommend enabling repositories from unknown sources , but the repositories i have mentioned above are all from offical sources and are quite trustable


    Now whenever you install new packages the packages would be downloaded from internet repositories you have installed above and not from the installation CD Rom .

    1. Installing W32Codecs

    win32-codecs package containes a number of diffeent dll files which decode popular media files like AVI,WMV allowing them to be played on media players like Xine and MPlayer.

    Assuming the repositories are correctly installed , type the following command in the terminal window after sudoing " su "into super user mode : -

    " urpmi win32-codecs "

    Also you might like to install DVD playing support on Mandriva type the following command in the terminal window , but keep in mind playing DVD using this may be illegal in some areas so use this accordingly: -

    "
    urpmi libdvdcss2 "

    2. Installing amule : -

    amule is a clone of popular p2p application Emule available on Windows platform.

    To install amule type the following command in the terminal window : -

    " urpmi amule "


    3. Installing Microsoft True Type fonts : -


    To install microsoft true type fonts type the following command in the terminal window : -

    " urpmi cabextract "

    Then type the following command : -


    now type


    " rpm -i msttcorefonts-bootstrap-0.1-4brs.noarch.rpm "

    To start installing the fonts , the fonts will be first downloaded from the net and then installed.

    A Screenshot showing installation of fonts

    4. Installing unrar , Downloader for X

    RAR is a popular archiving format for compressing files used popularly on windows platform , unrar is a small application that can be used for decompressing archives file created using rar application. It is not installed by default and has to be installed seprately.

    to install unrar type the following command in the command line : -

    "urpmi unrar "

    Downloader for X is a nice download manager that allows downloading files from Internet , pausing them and downloading them later . It also supports splitting file into number of segments so that files could be downloaded quickly . However one thing that i didn't like about is it's interface is somewhat difficult as compared to some of the download manager available on Windows.

    Anyways to install " Downloader for X " type the following command in the terminal window after sudoing into super user mode .

    "urpmi d4x "

    After installation is over you can launch Downloader for X from "d4x" in terminal window .
    This is how Downloader for X looks


    5. Installing Adobe Flash player

    Adobe Flash is presently the most popular way of adding interactivity to sites ,and a majority of websites today use flash . However it is not installed by default in Mandriva to install Macromedia flash type the following command in the terminal window after sudoing into super user mode .

    " wget http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/flash-plugin-9.0.31.0-release.i386.rpm "

    and

    "rpm -i flash-plugin-9.0.31.0-release.i386.rpm "

    after performing above step close firefox and start it again for changes to take effect.


    6. Installing Java Runtime Environment

    Java applets like Adobe Flash has become a integral part of internet browsing experience ,also a number of Java applications also exist which cannot run without Java Virtual Machines, however Java Runtime Environment is not installed by default in Mandrake Linux .

    To Install Java Runtime Environment type the following commands in the terminal window (remember to change to super user mode before typing these commands) : -

    " wget ftp://ftp.belnet.be/packages/mandrakeclub.nl/2007/i586/j2re-1_5_0_09-1.2007mcnl.i586.rpm"


    and

    "rpm -i
    j2re-1_5_0_09-1.2007mcnl.i586.rpm "



    7. Installing VLC Media Player

    VLC Player is another of popular video player available under Linux . It is released under GNU General Public license and is available for different platform including Windows,Linux,BeOS,Mac OS X etc. VLC player is based upon free open source libraries like libdvdcss,FFMpeg for decoding various video formats.One Important feature of VLC Player is it's ability to play files over NetWork Protocols. The Frontend of VLC player is created using wxWidgets toolkit and it's appearance can be changed by using different skins. One Popular feature of VLC Player is it's ability to play files that are incomplete/broken or partially downloaded , making it useful for previewing file while downloading on file-sharing networks.

    To install VLC Player type the following command in the terminal window : -

    " urpmi vlc "

    You will get a screen like this press Y for installation to begin .


    After Installation is over you can launch VLC player from Application -> Multimedia ->Video ->VLC

    This is how VLC Player looks

    8. Installing Google Apps

    Two of the popular Google application available on Windows Google Picasa and Google Earth are also available on Linux platform. While Google earth is a native linux application , Google Picasa uses Wine to run on linux platform.

    Installing Google Picasa : -

    Type the following command in terminal window in super user mode : -

    " wget http://dl.google.com/linux/rpm/stable/i386/picasa-2.2.2820-5.i386.rpm "

    "rpm -i picasa-2.2.2820-5.i386.rpm "

    After installation is over you can launch picasa from Application -> Multi Media -> Graphics -> Picasa
    Google Picasa Running on Mandriva Desktop

    Installing Google Earth : -

    Type the following command in Terminal Window : -

    " urpmi googleearth "


    Now the automated process would download googleearth it is 20.6 Megabytes download and would automatically install it.

    After installation is over you can launch Google Earth by typing "googleearth" in the Terminal Window.

    A Picture of Google Earth Running on linux


    9. Installing Adobe Reader

    Though Mandriva comes with pdf reader for viewing pdf files and is very good but still if you are making transition from Windows to Mandriva you might like to install Adobe Reader 7.0 which is some what more robust and complete as compared to some PDF viewers available on linux , the Linux version of Adobe Reader 8.0 has not been released but the version 7.0 is available and could be downloaded from the following website : -

    http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=10&platform=unix

    Just choose the platform Unix in the list and download the archive as a rpm file , in the Web browser.

    Web Page for downloading Adobe Reader

    Go to the location where you have downloaded the file and install it using rpm command.


    10. Installing RealPlayer

    Real Player is one of the more popular media player , it is used to play streaming audio / video file son the internet. It can be used to play rm , rmvb , mp3 and other files.

    To install RealPlayer visit the following link using your Web Browser .

    http://www.real.com/linux/

    Select RedHat package and save the rpm file after downloading the rpm file install it using the following command in the terminal window after chdir to the directory were you have downloaded the rpm file .


    Image Showing Link for downloading RPM Package

    or type the following command in the terminal window

    " wget http://www.real.com/realcom/R?href=http%3A%2F%2Fforms%2Ereal%2
    Ecom%2Freal%2Fplayer%2Fdownload%2Ehtml%3Ff%3Dunix%2FRealPlayer10GOLD%2Erpm "

    and after downloading RPM file type the following command in the terminal window in super user mode .

    "rpm -i RealPlayer10GOLD.rpm "

    However i found though installation goes smoothly but still RealPlayer did not work because of some missing library you have to install aditional library .

    "urpmi urpmi libstdc++5-3.3.6-3mdk.i586"

    After this RealPlayer should work well.

    After installation is over you can launch Real Player from Application -> Multimedia -> Video ->Real player 10

    This is how Linux Version of RealPlayer Looks not as neat as Windows one but still good.

    11. Installing Skype

    Skype is one of the most popular Voip application to install skype open the terminal window and after sudoing into super user mode type the following command in the terminal window .

    "wget http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-1.3.0.53-1mdk.i586.rpm"

    and

    after downloading is complete , install skype using the following command

    "rpm -i skype-1.3.0.53-1mdk.i586.rpm"

    After above step is complete launch skype by typing " skype " in the terminal window .

    This is how Linux Version of Skype Looks

    12. Enabling all the neat eye candy and installing some more

    The desktop effect are not enabled by default in mandriva linux to enable them go to System ->Administration -> Configure your Computer after supplying the root password and go to Hardware and there select Configure 3D Desktop Effects.

    Mandriva Control Centre , see option Configure 3D Desktop effects
    And follow the instructions to enable 3D Effect on Mandriva Desktop

    gdesklets gives user a collection of impressive widgets that can be placed on desktop this is similar to feature available on Windows Vista and Mac OS X , it does provide quite a good look to the desktop.

    To install gdesklets issue the following command at the command line

    "urpmi gdesklets"

    After installation is over go to Preferences -> Advanced -> Sessions , there go to startup programs and add "gdesklets shell "

    Adding gdesklets shell in the sessions


    After completeing above steps install custom desklets to make your desktop look more attractive .

    13. Making Windows see your Linux partition

    Windows XP lacks support for reading and writing files to Linux file system however external utilities like free Ext2 File system for windows allows Windows XP to read and write files to a Ext2 , Ext3 file system however ReiserFS file system is not supported .

    You can get Ext2 file system for windows at the following link : -
    (http://www.fs-driver.org/download.htm


    Miscellaneous : -


    Installing Bittorrent

    Bittorrent is one of the most popular application used for downloading torrent files , based on python it is available on a large number of platform including windows , mac os x and linux .

    To install Bittorrent type the following command in the terminal window.

    " urpmi bittorrent "


    Installing Opera

    Opera is very fine browser is quite popular too , it features a integrated bittorrent client , has a strong download manager and offers tab browsing . It is third most popular browser after IE and Mozilla Firefox

    Type the following command in terminal window after sudoing into super user mode .

    "wget http://download.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.opera.com/linux/920/final/en/i386/shared/opera-9.20-20070409.6-shared-qt.i386-en.rpm"

    and

    "rpm -i opera-9.20-20070409.6-shared-qt.i386-en.rpm"

    To complete installation

    after Installation is over you can launch opera by typing "opera" in the terminal window / or go to
    Applications -> Internet -> Web Browser -> Opera to launch opera.

    This is how Opera Looks

    Article Written by Ambuj Varshney (C) 2007 Ambuj Varshney For Linux on Desktop Blog

    Labels: , ,