It is possible to customize the appearance of Ubuntu Linux to resemble Windows 7. It can be done by using Linux’s Unity desktop. There are also other slightly complicated ways to change Ubuntu desktop appearance. This tutorial provides you with instructions to make Ubuntu Linux desktop resemble Windows 7 desktop, by tweaking Linux Unity desktop.

Tweaking Unity to look like Windows 7

Although there are only a few configurable options in Unity, it is still quite flexible enough to perform some tweaks so that it resembles Windows 7.

• Step 1: Make sure you have the current version of Ubuntu Linux
  
• Step 2: Hit the Windows key and type ‘Terminal’ without quotes and then hit Enter
  
  Now you need to copy and run a few commands to get the Windows theme installed. There are no installation wizards. You just have to copy the commands below, without the quotes, paste them in the terminal one by one, running each command after pasting it.
• Step 3: Copy and Paste this command (without quotes) in the terminal first, and then run it by hitting Enter ‘sudo add-apt-repository ppa:upubuntu-com/gtk3’. This installs a personal package archive in your system.
• Step 4: Now copy the following command, paste it (without quotes) and hit Enter
  ‘sudo apt-get update’. This command allows system to retrieve information about newly available packages.
• Step 5: ‘sudo apt-get install win2-7’. Paste and run this command without quotes. This will install Win2-7 theme.

Customizing the installed theme

• Step 1: Copy, paste and run the following command to enable the icon gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme ‘Win2-7-theme’
• Step 2: Copy and Paste this command to enable Window border
  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme ‘Win2-7-theme’
• Step 3: Now do the same for the command below, to enable widget theme
  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme ‘Win2-7-icons’ You will be able to see a launcher resembling a taskbar. It may be of different color but it’s nothing to be concerned about. This launcher uses the same color in the desktop wallpaper. To complete the Windows 7 desktop appearance, Windows 7 wallpaper must be set as the background. For this,
• Step 4: Launch the web browser
• Step 5: Use Google Search to find Windows 7 original wallpapers
• Step 6: Download wallpaper and set it as background. The launcher will now appear in the color of the desktop background.
• Step 7: Use this command to set close, minimize and maximize buttons, Windows style
  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ‘menu:minimize,maximize,close’
  This rearranges the buttons to resemble the windows in Windows 7.
• Step 8: To change the Mac style menu bar and replace it with Windows menu bar, copy, paste and run this command
  sudo apt-get autoremove appmenu-gtk appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-qt indicator-appmenu
  This affects each application window that you open in Ubuntu Linux.
• Step 9: Log out and log back for the changes to take effect
  Click the button at the far right side of the screen at the top to log out.
  

You have successfully personalized the Unity desktop in Ubuntu Linux which should now closely resemble Windows 7 desktop.

Conclusion

This is a simple way of transforming Linux desktop into a Windows 7 look-alike. However, further adjustments cannot be made. So it doesn’t completely look like Windows 7. There are other methods, using desktop environments that can closely resemble Windows 7 desktop. You will also be able to undo the changes that you have made in the desktop. This method doesn’t cause any harm to the Linux system. It’s recommended to use the latest version of Ubuntu Linux for tweaking the desktop.

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imira

A research and content development firm based in India providing solutions for various corporate firms, academic institutions and online portals.

Ubuntu Linux users can use Getmail by installing it from the Ubuntu Software Center. Other Linux users can download Getmail from the official website. This tutorial will give the steps to install Getmail in Ubuntu and use it for backing up your Gmail account.

Installing Ubuntu

• Step 1: Launch the Ubuntu Software Center using the icon in the Unity bar
  
• Step 2: Now type Getmail, when the window appears, in the search field
• Step 3: Select the Mail Retriever from the search results
  
• Step 4: Click Install. An ‘Authenticate’ dialog box should appear now, prompting for your system’s password.
• Step 5: Type in the password and click the ‘Authenticate’ button.

When the installation is over

• Step 6: Close the Ubuntu Software Center by clicking Close option in the File menu
  

Creating a configuration directory

A configuration directory should be created to store the mbox file. So you should do this before you start using Getmail. You can do this using the Terminal.

• Step 1: Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open the Terminal window
• Step 2: Type the following command at the prompt without quotes – “mkdir –m 0700 $HOME/.getmail” This will create the default configuration directory.
• Now you have to create a directory for the mbox file to store the messages in your Gmail account. To do this, type the following command without the quotes – “mkdir –m 0700 $HOME/new-folder”
  The file will be named ‘new-folder’. You can give any name of your preference for the directory by giving it at the end of the command above. The $HOME refers to your home directory which can be /home/.

Creating the mbox file

Now you need to create the mbox file. As Getmail does not create this file automatically, you have to do it from the terminal.

• Step 1: Type the command that follows, in the terminal without quotes: “touch ~/new-folder/gmail-backup.mbox”
  The ‘~’ also refers to your home directory, just like $HOME.
  Now you need to create a configuration file for Getmail. You can do this with a text editor.

Creating a configuration file

• Step 1: Open gedit (a text editor) and copy the following text
  [retriever]
  type = SimplePOP3SSLRetriever
  server = pop.gmail.com
  username = yourname@gmail.com
  password = yourpassword
  [destination]
  type = Mboxrd
  path = ~/new-folder/gmail-backup.mbox
  [options]
  verbose = 2
  message_log = ~/.getmail/gmail.log
• Step 2: Now change the username and password above for your username and password. Don’t forget to change the name of the configuration directory. Here it is new-folder. Also make sure that the path is correct in the destination portion of the text above.
• Step 3: Click ‘Save As’ and enter “.getmail/getmailrc” in the ‘Name’ field
• Step 4: Save the file to the configuration directory that you created earlier by clicking ‘Save’ button
• Step 5: Close the text editor and go back to the Terminal window
• Step 6: Now type ‘getmail’ in the prompt without the quotes and hit Enter. Now you have to wait till Getmail finishes downloading files from your Gmail account.
• Step 7: Exit the Terminal once Getmail finishes by closing the window with Close option in File menu

Conclusion

The messages in your Gmail account have been successfully saved into the mbox file that you created. You can import this file using various applications including Thunderbird import add-on. This technique may seem advanced or complicated, but you will get used to it once you do it yourself.

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imira

A research and content development firm based in India providing solutions for various corporate firms, academic institutions and online portals.

We wonder that how it happens behind the screen. Let’s simplify Linux OS Booting process.

1)    BIOS – Basic Input Output System

•       Checks system integrity
•       Looks for boot loader program at cdrom / flopy / harddisk
•       Have a facility to change booting parameter via F12/Del/F2 as per the system
•       Load the boot loader and transfers control to it

Summary:  It goes with first boot options and provides control to MBR (Master Boot Record)

2)    MBR – Master Boot Record

•       Situated into first sector of bootable disk . example – /dev/sda ,  /dev/sdb,  /dev/hda
•       It has information about boot loader ( GRUB / LILO )
•       Its size is less than 512 bytes and having 3 components

        1. Primary Boot Loader Information
        2. MBR validation check
        3. OS partition table information

Summary: It executes GRUB (GRand Unified Boot loader).

3)    GRUB – GRand Unified Boot Loader

•       You can decide which kernel should be booted from multiple installed kernel versions.
•       Run splash image for specified interval time as per config file
•       It has understanding of file system

4)    Kernel

•       Responsible for mounting the root file system
•       Executes INIT program
•       INIT is the first program to be executed by kernel and its PID is 1.
•       Initrd stands for initial RAM disk
•       Initrd has necessary driver information and other information which is required to mount file system until kernel booted , it stands as temporary root file system

5)     Init

•       Run configured run level as per inittab file
•       We can also change run level at boot time by define specific run level
•       Available Different Run Levels

        0     HALT
        1     Single User Mode
        2     Multiuser without networking
        3     Console Based Multiuser mode – but no GUI.
        4     Not defined
        5     GUI based Multiuser mode
        6     Reboot

6)     Run Level

•       While OS is booting up, we can see various services coming up and getting status.
•       It happens due to configuration of those services in that specific run level
•       Various programs are in run level directory which has initial word S or K.
•       S stands for startup and K stands for Kill.

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tsevak

The application known as VMware Player can be used to run Windows applications in Ubuntu Linux. It can install any version of Windows in virtual machines. Users will be able to have the full Windows experience in Linux by using VMware player and can also run windows apps side by side with Linux apps. This tutorial provides the steps to install Windows in a Linux system

Download VMware

• Step 1: Locate the site from which we can download VMware player
• Step 2: Register for a free account from the VMware Login page in the official website – https://my.vmware.com/
• Step 3: If you are already registered, then login with VMware account
• Step 4: Download the latest VMware player version. This version depends on your system. Download a 32 bit version for 32 bit systems and 64 bit version for 64 bit systems. You can download VMware Player for free but it requires for you to have a VMware account as well.
• Step 5: Install VMware on Linux. It is not difficult to install VMware in Linux. The installation should be started at the terminal.
• Step 6: To install from the Terminal, substitute the version number at the end of the downloaded file with: version/build_number The file would now appear as chmod +x ./VMware-Player-version/build_number.bundle
• Step 7: Now start the installation by entering the following:gksudo bash ./VMware-Player-version/build_number.bundle.
  Example:
  
• Step 8: Provide the Administrator password if prompted. The VMware graphical setup wizard will now open.
• Step 9: Choose if you want to check for VMware updates and submit the data to VMware
• Step 10: Resume installation of VMware by following the instructions. The installation will take only a few minutes and does not require you to reboot the system after installation.
• Step 11: Go to Applications and select System Tools
• Step 12: Launch VMware player
• Step 13: Accept the license agreement to run the program

Installing Windows with VMware

• Step 1: Click ‘Create a New Virtual Machine’
  
• Step 2: Select the mode of installation (Either an ISO image file or installation disc). VMware will detect Windows from the installation destination.
• Step 3: Click ‘Next’ to resume the installation
• Step 4: Provide the Windows product key
• Step 5: Select a version of Windows to install
  
• Step 6: Provide your name and password
• Step 7: Click Next. In case if you don’t have a product key at the moment, you can just leave the field and provide the rest of the details. Upon clicking Next, VMware will ask if you want to continue the installation without the key. Click Yes.
• Step 8: Enter a name for the Virtual Machine and select a storage destination for the machine
• Step 9: Choose a size for the Virtual hard drive, which will be 40 GB by default
• Step 10: Choose an option to either store the disk as a single file or split into multiple files
• Step 11: Click Finish
• Step 12: Click ‘Download and Install’ if prompted for Software updates

Conclusion

After this tutorial, you will be able to Play Windows Virtual machine via the VMware player. Windows app will work fine in Linux after activating Unity mode. Use the VMware help menu and explore the software to learn how to use Windows effectively in Linux.

Author information

imira

A research and content development firm based in India providing solutions for various corporate firms, academic institutions and online portals.

Ubuntu is available for mobile operators, handset OEMs and silicon vendors for the very first time. Canonical seems to be pushing for an OS that will be adaptable to different kinds of devices.

The Ubuntu OS for smartphones has been optimized for email, web, messaging, calls and media consumption. Ubuntu phones will cater to mainly two key segments. One is for those who require wanting a basic but elegant smartphone. The other is for those who require desktop capability and enterprise-grade thin client via a secure smartphone.

Ubuntu for entry level and high-end smartphones

Ubuntu OS for entry-level smartphones offers a stunning interface. When compared to Android, Ubuntu OS is uncluttered and easy to use. The existing OS for smartphones does not offer good experience with phones having low bill-of-materials. However, with Ubuntu, even entry level phones get a sharper interface which is more responsive and easier to use.

Ubuntu does not require the use of a Java virtual machine. This significantly improves the performance of native apps and enables the use of hardware capabilities to the full extend. Ubuntu also provides support for web applications for portable application development. This targets all platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is very popular especially in security-conscious enterprises. Ubuntu for high-end smartphones serve to provide this very capability, converting it into a ‘Superphone’ that will act as a secure PC. When docked with keyboard, monitor and mouse, the smartphone running on Ubuntu OS turns into a desktop enabling the use of Ubuntu management tools.

Characteristics of Ubuntu OS for smartphones

Ubuntu provides a cleaner interface for most apps, with room for lot of content. It makes efficient use of the space on the smartphone screen offering fast access and switching between apps. Ubuntu requires Cortex A9 dual core processor clocked at 1 GHz as well as a 512 MB RAM to run. The OS will be supported in low-end phones that are released in 2013.

Ubuntu offers the following advantages over the existing OS for smartphones.

• Competitive alternative to existing OS
• Relationships with OEMs who incorporate Ubuntu in PCs
• Already existing app ecosystem and developer community
• Great performance in entry level and high-end phones
• Customization possible for OEM and operators
• Converging desktop, phone and thin client on a single high-end smartphone

Differences of Ubuntu phone OS from other market players

Several features of Ubuntu phone OS gives it an edge over the existing phone OS such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

• Ubuntu offers an elegant, distinctive, sophisticated but very natural-looking interface for displaying the content. This is an advantage over Windows which has over-simplified style and iOS which has glossy and photo-realistic icons.
• Ubuntu is a complete PC OS. Due to the late entry of the phone OS into the market it can run a complete PC environment. This is unlike Android, which was initially meant for older PCs and hence has limitations. Ubuntu has the ability to use all CPU cores.

Since Ubuntu is an open OS, manufacturers who ship Android phones will find Ubuntu more appealing than Windows Phone.

Ubuntu’s popularity among developers

Catering to both entry-level phones and high-end phones, Ubuntu is expected to have a strong presence in emerging markets. Ubuntu already has a good base with mobile developers, which ensures positive prospects for the OS to be a hit with them

• Majority of Android developers develop mobile apps using Ubuntu
• Ubuntu will provide Firefox and Chromium browsers along with HTML 5 and other first class web apps. This will be attractive to developers targeting cross-platform audiences.
• Game engines support Ubuntu since the OS provides native access to GPU functions
• Native app developers also make use of SDK for Ubuntu OS for creating well-performing applications.

Ubuntu smartphones are expected to be launched globally at competitive prices, with the initial launch expected to be in Western Europe, late 2013.

Ubuntu’s interface for smartphones is the result of pushing for an OS that is supported on all devices and one that will offer the full advantages of a desktop. Ubuntu OS for smartphones improves the performance of low-end phones and provides high-end smartphones the capability to act like a PC. Ubuntu phone OS will be an excellent alternative to existing phone operating systems due to its many advantages and popularity with developers.

Author information

imira

A research and content development firm based in India providing solutions for various corporate firms, academic institutions and online portals.