Hey! This is the old a broken mold. Newer stuff is at abrokenmold.net.
That being said, feel free to rummage through the archives over here. Also feel free to leave comments; we're still keeping an eye on this.

For me, that is.
I blogged a while back about Vista/XP Virtual Desktops being virtual desktops in Windows done right-er. Well, I have a new love. VirtuaWin.
I believe that probably over a year earlier than this second time, I have used VirtuaWin (the default taskbar icon looked familiar). I probably didn't like it so well back then, but I think it's pretty rad now.

  • under 10 MB memory usage on my system
  • low CPU usage on my system
  • simple
  • fast
  • small size of core files
  • extendable by modules
Awesome, huh? It doesn't do any fancy Exposé style desktop previews like some other ones, but I don't really think Windows is setup for that (hopefully Microsoft will make some changes in this direction in the future. Native virtual desktops in Windows would be great).
And some nice news for the Ubuntu (and others, I think) users among you: you can set up hotkeys to switch and follow windows to the previous and next desktops.
Sweet, huh?
As a postscript, I like using the XP bars icon set for VirtuaWin because it allows me to keep tabs on which desktop I'm on, Ubuntu/GNOME style (pic). Check that set out or take your pick of the others. You install them by putting them in the icons folder in the VirtuaWin folder. Refer to the help file included for more info (help not working on Vista? Try xchm for Win32 [v. 1.16]).

5 comments:

Austin said...

Is this what people mean when they talk about setting up a virtual machine on ubuntu so they can run windows on it? I recently got ubuntu and I want to get Windows virtually so I can play my iTunes. What say you?

Nathaniel said...

No, actually, that's a little different. A virtual desktop refers to having more than one.. desktop. It's like this: you know how you have all these windows on one screen? Imagine if you could have another screen to use... or 10 more. This is the power of virtual desktops. Check it out yourself in Ubuntu; it's really easy. Just press Ctrl+Alt+[left or right arrow key here] to switch desktops and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+[left or right arrow key here] to take the active window with you. Search YouTube for 'ubuntu virtual desktops' for some visuals, I'd think.

Now, as to running iTunes and virtual machines. A virtual machine is basically emulating a computer. To do that in Ubuntu, you'll probably want to grab VirtualBox Open Source Edition. To install it, open your Applications menu in Ubuntu and select Add/Remove. Then search for VirtualBox and you'll find it and can install it. From there you can install Windows in a virtual machine (assuming you have a disc or an .iso image). And then you can install iTunes in there.

However, there may be a much easier way. WINE. Install it the same way. You may be able to get iTunes running in linux without a virtual machine. Others have.

Austin said...

I have wine, so maybe I'll try that way first. Thanks, man.

Austin said...

The only thing is, you can't sync it with your iPod or log into your store account. I need to look for my Vista CD, and then I think I'll install it on a virtual machine or something. Wish me luck!

By the way, if you have any helpful tips about Ubuntu or linux in general, I'd be delighted to hear it. I'm basically a beginner to the whole linux thing, except that I had Red Hat when I was in Junior High, though I didn't really understand it.

Nathaniel said...

Hmmm... helpful tips. Well, I'd say just keep your love of learning around. It'll come in handy. Also you might want to register at Ubuntu Forums for future use. My name is McMurdo over there.

Use your Google. It's friendly.

Also, if you want to, you can take a look at our posts labeled Linux and Ubuntu.