What's new in Cinnamon 3.0
Cinnamon is one of the most popular desktop environments for Linux computers, with many folks using it instead of Unity and other available desktop options.
Version 3.0 of Cinnamon was recently released, and now there's a helpful video on Youtube that walks you through the new features and improvements:
The what's new in Cinnamon 3.0 video spawned a thread on the Linux subreddit, and folks there weren't shy about sharing their thoughts:
Varikonniemi: "This looks really promising, i would say this is the first time i get the feeling it is better than unity. I however have not sat down with it, so actual use experience may differ."
Mowalle: "I've been using Cinnamon since around 2.2. IMO, the only things that Unity does better than it are the HUD (not the Dash, but the alt-menu thingy) and the merging of app menu, titlebar and top panel to save space. I find Cinnamon has a lot of little tweaks and details that make it just nice to use. For example, the you can right-click the sound applet to change the audio output device. It also comes with an inhibit applet by default, so no need for caffeine. Unity is not bad, but to me Cinnamon takes the lead."
Moonwork: "I'm a big fan of Cinnamon and have been for a few years now. Atm I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 with Cinnamon as the Desktop Manager.
But I have to say, considering that was a "See What's New" -video, it feels like there's quite a few things that were standard in the previous versions.
Having said that, this looks awesome and I can't wait to start using it properly. (I installed 3.0 just last night.) So far the only weird thing has been the oversized icons on the desktop and in Nemo. But I assume those are remnants of the old config files and will disappear once I reinstall when Mint 18 comes out."
Thedjokatu: "Touchpad off while typing is awesome. All desktop environments need to enable that as an option! Nothing I hate more when using a laptop than errant clicks because of a touchpad."
TRL5: "It completely screws gaming up though, and the timeout is either short enough to not always work, or long enough to be annoying if you go back to mousing immediately after typing.
I prefer just learning how to type on a laptop, though I agree it should be available as an option."
Postingcrap: "That all looks incredibly trivial, things that other DEs have had for years."
ChaletOS 16.04 offers an open source refuge for Windows users
Windows users can often be unsure of which desktop distribution to choose when they make the move to Linux. ChaletOS is a distro based on Ubuntu that offers a great starting point for Windows users who want to learn how to use Linux on the desktop.
Marius Nestor reports for Softpedia:
…ChaletOS' main design goal is to help ex-Windows users with their migration to an open-source, desktop-oriented computer operating system powered by Linux kernel. Therefore, if you want to ditch Windows, we recommend giving ChaletOS 16.04 a try today.
ChaletOS 16.04 arrived based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus), offering users the same level of support as Canonical offers their users, of course, based on the upstream software repositories. Therefore, ChaletOS 16.04 is based on the same long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel as Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
Also new in ChaletOS 16.04 is the brand-new Software Center graphical package manager based on GNOME Software, improves artwork with updates to themes, allowing users to install both GTK3 and GTK2 desktop themes, and redesigned Emerald icons, which are now more suitable for the operating system's style.
Another new feature implemented in the ChaletOS 16.04 release is Start Point, an application that has been designed from the ground up to help newcomers to this OS, especially Windows refugees, learn how to use ChaletOS, or Linux for that matter. The app includes video tutorials, various articles, and software recommendations.
Google rolls out Spaces group sharing app for Android
Google has created a group sharing app for Android called Spaces, and you can get it now on the Google Play store. Spaces lets you easily create a group and invite friends and family to connect about any topic.
The official Google Blog has more details:
We wanted to build a better group sharing experience, so we made a new app called Spaces that lets people get people together instantly to share around any topic.
With Spaces, it's simple to find and share articles, videos and images without leaving the app, since Google Search, YouTube, and Chrome come built in.
When someone shares something new to a space, the conversational view lets you see what the group is talking about without missing a beat.
You can create a space with just one tap for any topic and invite anyone via messaging, email, a social network, or whatever way you like.
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