Notepad++ - A GNU Licensed, Source Code Editor for MS Windows

If you're a computer programmer then having a fully featured source code editor is a must. Although all the IDE (Integrated Development Environment, heck, like you didn't know that :P) suits come with ones of their own yet if you use MS Windows while creating your programs, then Notepad++ is a pretty powerful utility nonetheless.

One other important thing about Notepad++ is that it uses less system resources still giving you the ability to edit a program with a larger source code. I'm not a programmer (although I've played very little with C/C++ in the past, well I just created a "hello world" :/) so other than using it for those type of purposes, I find Notepad++ is extremely helpful while editing XML files, which I usually have to do since I'm a bit of a nerdy blogger :P.

Main features...

*. It's a shame than it's a GNU licensed program yet only support MS Windows. No GNU/Linux support.

*. Written in C++ and as mentioned above uses a very little system resources.

*. Plugin support (by using which you can expand its features such as adding automatic spell checking, export the source code to RTF/HTML, etc).

*. Supports a lot of different computer languages such as C, Objective C, Assembly, Shell, SQL, etc.

*. Search and replace.

*. Auto completion of codes (pretty handy since you don't always have to retype the codes again and again).

*. Macro recorder support (playback, start recording, save, etc).

*. TextFX support.

These are just a very few to mention. But as said before, even if you aren't a programmer you can still use this as a powerful text editor ... but since the GUI is loaded with features, it can be a bit confusing for the everyday users, I think (including me:)).

Anyhow, for all ya MS Windows programming geeks, you can get the latest version of Notepad++ from this download page. Oh yeah, it's FREE!.

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Foxit Reader 5 Is Released - GNU/Linux is Now Officially Supported!

Although there's nothing wrong with the default PDF reader from Adobe since it comes with a lot of features by default. Yet, if you have an old PC/Laptop, then reading a PDF file with decent amount of images, etc will require a lot of system resources from your PC (at lest in my personal experience anyway).

This is where the tremendous success of Foxit reader comes from. The reason I said "tremendous" is because, not that long ago, if you search in Google the word "pdf reader" then the first site that used to sit at the top was the Adobe's official PDF reader. But whenever you search this phase now in Google, Foxit website is at the top, beating Adobe, the original creator of .PDF extension!.

And the reason for its popularity is because it loads fast, has almost all the features Adobe has to offer and most importantly, it uses significantly lower amount of system resources of your PC/Laptop.

And for the first time ever, now there's even a version for GNU/Linux too!. This is the first time ever it was released for GNU/Linux and in comparison with the MS Windows version, it has lesser amounts of features right now, but trust me, it's way way better than the Gnome's default PDF reader and many others without a doubt!.

Main features of the version 5 (Windows version)  

*. Totally new look-n-feel with new icons.

*. Comes with built in themes (Blue, Yellow, etc) the users can change from.

*. Tabbed interface.

*. Screen-Split feature for better PDF viewing/comparing documents, etc.

*. Once installed, now Foxit 5 make sure to Preview PDF attachments in Window Outlook.

*. Thumbnail previews within the file manager (explorer) in Windows.

*. Faster search with PDF files.

Although these are just a few of new features to mention there a lot of others that I didn't write down since most already familiar with it. As said the GNU/Linux version has lesser amounts of features... yet it's already a complete PDF rather than the useless Evince (document reader).

Here are few features of the Linux v 1.1

*. Multi language support.

*. Anti-aliasing Fonts.

*. On-screen dictionary integration supported.

*. Enhanced toolbar with buttons such as : Zoom-in/Zoom-out, back/forward/Print, etc 

*. Search.

*. Automatic scroll.

*. Take Snapshots/Screenshots... are again few to mention. 


Recommended System Requirements for Windows

    1.3 GHz or faster processor.
    64 MB RAM (Recommended: 128 MB RAM or greater)!.
    52 MB of available hard drive space.
    800x600 screen resolution.

In GNU/Linux by default the application will consume less than 15MB.

And for all these features how much do you have to pay?, well that's the fun part. It's completely free!. For MS Windows users, you can download it from this page. You can download the GNU/Linux version form this official Foxit for Linux page.

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Have You Tried The Rightmark CPU Clock Utility?

Although unlike windows XP both windows Vista and 7 do a pretty decent job when it comes to giving users the ability to customize advance features in their hardware. For instance with Vista and 7 you can easily set your CPU to run in specific speeds which can help to enhance your Laptop's battery life.

But what about your slightly old CPU that doesn't support those advanced power options? how you can you manually slowdown your CPU which resulting in a longer battery life??. The operating system can do very little if your CPU does not support those advanced built in features that can be accessed via the ACPI (advanced configuration power interface) standard.

For instance, I have an old Laptop which was made around 2005-2006. The Intel CPU does not have the ability to "switch" between different speed levels, so, no matter how low your battery level is (not quite true in my case.. explained below) ... the CPU will always run in its full throttle, thus "wasting" some of the battery energy.

But there is another way that we can manually slowdown the CPU by cutting out the FSB. Although I'm not quite sure, but most newer Intel CPU come with this disabled by default. Anyway if you purchase your Laptop via a major distributors such as HP, Dell, etc... then most of the time the CPU FSB could've been unlocked by default.

Although I'm not sure what's the case with never processors, but the ones that does not support most of those automatic CPU speed switching (Intel calls it Speed step... can't remember the AMD's version)... manufactures use the above mentioned FSB (front side bus = the speed your processor interact with your RAM) unlocked by default and without the operating system even knowing it... the BIOS automatically slow down the CPU according to your battery status by reducing the FSB speeds.

But for those of you who wants better control over your CPU ... since there's nothing much we can do about that BIOS method... then Rightmark CPU Clock Utility will come in handy. But remember, they haven't updated the utility since 2008... so if you have a never CPU that came after that time, then please don't use it.

Once setup correctly, Rightmark CPU utility lets you switch between different CPU speeds by simply clicking on your system tray + you can use it to adjust few of other things such as screen brightness, etc as well.

Although not just adjusting your CPU speed via the FSB... but Rightmark CPU utility have a lot of built in advanced features that can be used to "tweak" your CPU using many advanced power features, if your processor supports them.

They have an excellent manual.. so please read it first. Remember, this is not a free utility, but they do let you use it for some trial period (with few limitations) but for those of us who still use Windows XP from time to time, and looking for a dedicated app to tweak the CPU for achieving longer battery life... then this will come in handy.

You can download it from here. But please use it at your own risk.

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"Duplicati": Excellent Backup Utility for GNU/Linux and Windows

To be honest, I rarely use data backup tools in GNU/Linux or Windows. But Depending on your requirements... a dedicated fully featured backup tool is extremely useful. If you're always going to have adding a lot of new files daily and looking for an easy to use powerful data backup tool, then you should consider Duplicati!.

Main features...

*. You can put it inside a USB stick thus making it portable easily.

*. Supports encrypting your data.

*. You can "send" backup to remote FTP servers, cloud network storage (I'm not a huge fan of that) and AmazonS3, etc.

*. Or, just save them directly to another HDD on your PC or partition inside a network. 

*. Easily restore your data.

*. Automatic data name tagging (date, time, etc).

*. Ability to interrupt while taking backups (Pause/Resume).

This is actually a cross-platform backup utility, so you can use it in Microsoft Windows as well. So, if you're interested in using Duplicati, then please visit this download page.

In Ubuntu you can install it using the below command (first we have to install few dependencies).

sudo apt-get install mono-runtime libmono2.0-cil libmono-winforms2.0-cil expect

Now enter the below command.

wget http://duplicati.googlecode.com/files/Duplicati%201.0%20-%20Linux.zip
unzip Duplicati\ 1.0\ -\ Linux.zip
cd Duplicati/
mono Duplicati.exe

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Have You Used the iolo System Mechanic in Your PC?

I'm pretty we all can remember how fast our PC used to be in the first few days/weeks or perhaps months we purchased it. It boots pretty fast, no error messages (hopefully :P)... most of the time we are happy with it. But as the time goes on, we have to install different types of applications, etc.

Although most these apps are not the most heavily needed ones ... so you may uninstall it afterward.

And since not everyone is a tech geek, most people don't even clean their web browser's cache, OS temporary files, etc either. Most may not even know what file system defragmentation type things as well. And whenever you install and then uninstall it later, even though we think that all the files are removed but in truth some parts are still in your OS. This one of the main reasons behind why an OS gets slower and slower as the time goes on if not maintained properly.

If you do this manually... then other than few "cleanings", some are almost impossible (even for a tech geek :P). In that case you can use dedicated PC system cleaning utilities that can be used to remove you recently used file names, clean OS temporary files, clean your Registry (one of the most important parts of any OS), clear web browser cache by using a single application that can really fasten up your OS.

For GNU/Linux finding an app that automatically does the above mentioned things can be pretty hard but for all you Microsoft Windows users, iolo System Mechanic is one of the best!. Although you'll have to pay for it, but luckily, they do give you a trial period so you can decide if you want to purchase it later.

Control everything from a singe command center!...

If you feel your Windows OS is slower than it used to be, then I highly recommend giving a try for System Mechanic.

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Ubuntu 3.0 Skin Pack, Wanna Make Windows XP Look Like Ubuntu Natty Narwhal!

Why do you wanna do that for?... just kidding, I always wanted to do that. I did write about a "skin pack" which transforms your Windows XP PC to Ubuntu, but that pack is only capable of making XP look like a bit earlier version of Ubuntu.

But there is an updated pack called Ubuntu 3.0 Skin pack (from the same author) which makes your Window XP look just like Ubuntu 11.04 Natty ("Bill" hates it :P).

What the.... ;-)

Starting with Icons to themes (including wallpapers) and most importantly you really can't miss the application dock  in Natty (Canonical don't like when you call it "dock", it "should" be called "application launcher"), and the skin pack even comes with a dedicated dock called Rocketdock!.

Although when I was reading some of the comments, someone had complained about it making XP non-boot-able (yikes), so the author advices to make sure you have installed the service-pack 3 for XP in that case.

So I'm pretty sure you want the link right now!, so click here and get it. Extract and install the pack and reboot. Get more information from this official deviantart page.


For Windows 7 users...

Not to worry friends there is a separate version for Windows 7 users as well (not for Vista though). Instructions are all the same, get the pack from here and if you want more information on installing, etc... then please visit this page.

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RocketDock, An Excellent Application Dock for Microsoft Windows!

OK, let's get real guys. I brag about GNU/Linux, but in truth I do use Microsoft Windows (XP actually), heavily (hope you guys wouldn't execute me :P). I have never used Apple's Mac OS neither the OSX. But I've seen how cute that dock behaves and since you can customize the Gnome panel to behave like a dock (without those fancy effects and some options) or can easily install a dedicated dock in GNU/Linux.

With Microsoft Windows the "free" apps are bit harder to find. Although in my search for an application dock I did come up with a few, but RocketDock is one of the best free ones that I've come up with so far (if you have a better one, please share).

I've used a commercial dock before but when comparing with the RocketDock, I gotta say... if you have a slower PC then seriously RocketDock just Rocks!.

Minimum hardware requirements...

*. 500Mhz CPU speed.

*. 10MB of HDD space.

*. Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista and 7.

Features...

*. Dock/minimize running windows to the dock (another thing that previously mentioned "Gnome-panel dock" can't do).

*. Live updated previews (vista only, for instance, say that you minimized a file copying dialog to the dock, then you can still see a small live preview of the percentage of copying process!, pretty useful).

*. Easily add/remove applications and folder shortcuts by drag-n-drop.

*. Auto hide.

*. Various effects.

*. Change size, change colors and few themes.

*. Add-on support. 

*. Lot of other customizations are available.

So if you want to give it a try, then download it from here. Enjoy!.

RocketDock in action ...

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Ext2Read, Read All Your "Ext2/3/4" GNU/Linux File Systems in Microsoft Windows!

Microsoft will never include the ability for their operating system to read GNU/Linux partitions by default. It's amazing what few years can bring. I remember, not that long ago, around 2004-2005, how hard it was to find something that can read "Ext" file systems in Microsoft windows.

Although a certain partition manager did come with a one but you had to pay a big price for the software.

Anyhow, if you dual boot with Microsoft Windows a GNU/Linux distribution that has a partition created using the "Ext/2/3 or the never 4" version, then Ext2Read is one of the totally free application that lets you read these GNU/Linux file systems under windows!.

You can even read LVM2 volumes as well. Not just copying/ files... but it supports mass folder copy.. etc too. But it can only read these file systems... it's not that it can't but I think the developers are a bit scared of letting you "Write" while on Widows since you can do some serious damage to the partition by doing so.

Still, if you want to copy a document or a folder that was in the "Home" folder, etc... then Ext2Read is very handy nonetheless. Get it from this official Ex2Read page. No need to install, just extract the .zip file and simply run the ".exe" file.

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