Ubuntu GNOME 13.04 Daily Images Available For Download

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2MDy4mujIB0/UUDRew1tDqI/AAAAAAAAOjc/GKQ07zAMJAo/s1600/ubuntu-gnome-daily.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ubuntu GNOME 13.04" border="0" height="204" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2MDy4mujIB0/UUDRew1tDqI/AAAAAAAAOjc/GKQ07zAMJAo/s320/ubuntu-gnome-daily.png" title="Ubuntu GNOME 13.04" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Quick update: now that <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/03/ubuntu-gnome-becomes-official-ubuntu.html">Ubuntu GNOME is an official Ubuntu flavour</a>, it can make use of the Ubuntu infrastructure, and the first daily builds are now available for download:</div><br /><a name='more'></a><blockquote>Currently we have 32-bit and 64-bit images available for download and testing. We do not plan to release PowerPC or "amd64+mac" images unless a group of volunteers commits to test these images for each of the Ubuntu release milestones we participate in. The next release milestone for us is Ubuntu 13.04 Final Beta on 28 March.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>- Matthew Butler @ Ubuntu GNOME <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-gnome/2013-March/000050.html">mailing list</a></i></div></blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh, and I've forgot to mention this in the previous Ubuntu GNOME article: if you can help in any way (not just packaging and coding), including reporting bugs, join the (new) <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-gnome">Ubuntu GNOME mailing list</a> or the #ubuntu-gnome channel on the freenode IRC network.</div><br /><a href="http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-gnome/daily-live/current/">Download Ubuntu GNOME daily images</a>

Ubuntu GNOME 13.04 Daily Images Available For Download

Quick update: now that Ubuntu GNOME is an official Ubuntu flavour , it can make use of the Ubuntu infrastructure, and the first daily builds...

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GNOME 3.8 To Ship With Reworked Folder Icons

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The default GNOME icon theme isn't very popular among GNOME users, mainly because of the default folder icons, which many label as <i>ugly </i>(<a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/03/gnome-38-beta-available-in-ppa-for.html#comments">here's an example</a>). However, with GNOME 3.8, the folder icons will use a different color which attempts to fix this, but is it enough?</b></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Jakub Steiner has recently published an <a href="http://jimmac.musichall.cz/log/?p=1335">article</a> about this, mentioning that "<i>GNOME folder is a result of using the actual beige color that is both the real world folder material and the legacy of Tuomas’ GNOME 1 folder</i>". But I'd say they look more gray than beige and considering that Adwaita, the default GNOME 3 GTK theme is also gray, this is a bit too much.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And it seems Jakub Steiner agrees, at least partially with this, because <b>a recent GNOME Icon Theme GIT commit changes the folder icon to a lighter, more beige / less gray color</b> (which by the way, reminds me of the original <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/03/faenza-icon-theme-09-released-with-new.html">Faenza</a> icon theme) as a response to <a href="https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=693610">this</a> bug report, to "<i>compensate for the overall greyness of the theme</i>":</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGm2uRhRQME/UT4_1SrerlI/AAAAAAAAOh8/6PNgJDhotzQ/s1600/gnome-3.8-folder-icons.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="gnome 3.8 folder icons" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGm2uRhRQME/UT4_1SrerlI/AAAAAAAAOh8/6PNgJDhotzQ/s550/gnome-3.8-folder-icons.png" title="gnome 3.8 folder icons" width="550" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's how Nautilus looks like using the GNOME Icon Theme with the new folder icons:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EugU0jzIXnw/UT44NE_bHvI/AAAAAAAAOh0/GkOLWk2-fiE/s1600/nautilus-gnome-3-lighter-folder-icons.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 lighter folder icons" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EugU0jzIXnw/UT44NE_bHvI/AAAAAAAAOh0/GkOLWk2-fiE/s500/nautilus-gnome-3-lighter-folder-icons.png" title="GNOME 3.8 lighter folder icons" width="500" /></a></div><br />For comparison, here's how the folder icons used to look before this change:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DYxSJFZhp70/UT5LEtZ0-SI/AAAAAAAAOiE/ACvyyWYY0Ts/s1600/nautilus-gnome-folder-icons.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="gnome 3.6 folder icons" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DYxSJFZhp70/UT5LEtZ0-SI/AAAAAAAAOiE/ACvyyWYY0Ts/s500/nautilus-gnome-folder-icons.png" title="gnome 3.6 folder icons" width="500" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What do you think? Are the GNOME Icon Theme folder icons so unpopular because of their color or is it something else? Also, do you like the new color?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These new folder icons should be available by default in GNOME 3.8 (though this may not be the final design) which will be released on March 27. If you want to try it right now, you can get the icon theme from <a href="https://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-icon-theme">GIT</a>.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://worldofgnome.org/new-default-folder-icons-for-gnome-3-8/">worldofgnome.org</a></i></div>

GNOME 3.8 To Ship With Reworked Folder Icons

The default GNOME icon theme isn't very popular among GNOME users, mainly because of the default folder icons, which many label as ugly ...

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Ubuntu GNOME Becomes An Official Ubuntu Flavour

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyw_icBDgHw/UT5OBSLQf_I/AAAAAAAAOiM/TjzaGOg4M6o/s1600/gnomeubuntu-vert-wh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ubuntu GNOME logo" border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyw_icBDgHw/UT5OBSLQf_I/AAAAAAAAOiM/TjzaGOg4M6o/s320/gnomeubuntu-vert-wh.png" title="Ubuntu GNOME logo" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/prefer-gnome-shell-download-ubuntu.html">Ubuntu GNOME</a>, an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution that ships with GNOME Shell by default along with other GNOME applications that aren't available by default in Ubuntu, is now an official Ubuntu flavour (starting with 13.04).</b></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">The news comes from the Ubuntu GNOME <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-gnome/2013-March/000035.html">mailing list</a>, where it is specified that there won't be a 13.04 beta 1 release this week, but there should be a beta release at the end of the month and daily images should be available within a few weeks. This should make it easier to install and test because right now, there's no way of getting Ubuntu GNOME except for installing another Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail flavour and then <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/how-to-get-complete-gnome-3-desktop-in.html">install the Ubuntu GNOME</a> meta packages.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ubuntu GNOME 13.04 will be released with GNOME 3.6 because Ubuntu 13.04 <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/ubuntu-1304-only-some-gnome-components.html">won't ship with GNOME 3.8</a> for the most part and since this is now an official flavour, it can't ship with a PPA, but you can use the <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/03/gnome-38-beta-available-in-ppa-for.html">GNOME 3 PPA</a> which should get the stable GNOME 3.8 once it's released.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, <b>the official name is now "Ubuntu GNOME', without "Remix"</b> which has been used in the previous (unofficial) release:</div><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The official name is now "Ubuntu GNOME"; no "Remix", no "Edition". I like the simplicity of this name and the GNOME Foundation Board has made it clear that we are not welcome to use derivative names like GNOMEbuntu as our official name.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;">- Jeremy Bicha @ Ubuntu GNOME <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-gnome/2013-March/000003.html">mailing list</a></div></blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">We'll let you know when the Ubuntu GNOME beta is released and when you can download the daily builds.</div>

Ubuntu GNOME Becomes An Official Ubuntu Flavour

Ubuntu GNOME , an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution that ships with GNOME Shell by default along with other GNOME applications that aren't...

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Install GNOME 3.8 In Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail [PPA]

<div style="text-align: justify;">A while back, it was decided that Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail will <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/ubuntu-1304-only-some-gnome-components.html">ship with GNOME 3.6</a> for the most part instead of GNOME 3.8. </div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail users can use the <a href="https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3">GNOME 3 PPA</a> to upgrade to the latest GNOME 3.8, including GNOME Shell 3.8 and Nautilus 3.8.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Additionally, a second PPA (<a href="https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3-staging">GNOME 3 Staging PPA</a>) has been created recently and allows Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail users to upgrade other components that aren't available in the main GNOME 3 PPA. The GNOME 3 Staging PPA packages are work in progress or have known regressions so it's not as stable as the main GNOME 3 PPA. Also, if you want to use the GNOME 3 Staging PPA, you'll have to firstly add the main GNOME 3 PPA.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Jeremy Bicha has <a href="https://lists.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/msg00273.html">explained</a> on the Ubuntu-GNOME mailing list that<b> <span style="color: #cc0000;">these PPAs should only be used if you are familiar with ppa-purge and know how to fix a broken system. "This is even more true for the GNOME 3 Staging PPA</span></b> as our normal quality standards do not apply there", said Jeremy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And indeed, in my test, I wasn't able to purge the main GNOME 3 PPA properly and I've had to remove some packages, including GNOME Shell and Nautilus and only then purge the PPA, then I've installed those packages back (and it was a lot more difficult with the GNOME 3 Staging PPA). I've reported a bug for ppa-purge <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ppa-purge/+bug/1142289">HERE</a> regarding this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are a few GNOME 3.8 screenshots:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I0g6Tq22gv8/UTN8mrSDhfI/AAAAAAAAOVE/vU79Ekd5_WM/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-frequent.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME Shell 3.8"><img alt="gnome shell 3.8" border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I0g6Tq22gv8/UTN8mrSDhfI/AAAAAAAAOVE/vU79Ekd5_WM/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-frequent.png" title="gnome shell 3.8" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bUEuP1-t6xE/UTN8m9G0-pI/AAAAAAAAOVI/ca_DwDOa3qQ/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-all-apps.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME Shell 3.8"><img alt="gnome shell 3.8" border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bUEuP1-t6xE/UTN8m9G0-pI/AAAAAAAAOVI/ca_DwDOa3qQ/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-all-apps.png" title="gnome shell 3.8" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VGhb1th7vbs/UTN8mAZQleI/AAAAAAAAOU8/iT6-LvZLmIk/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-change-background.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME 3.8 change background right click menu"><img alt="gnome 3.8 change background right click" border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VGhb1th7vbs/UTN8mAZQleI/AAAAAAAAOU8/iT6-LvZLmIk/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-change-background.png" title="gnome 3.8 change background right click" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xcarKFf_WxY/UTOCJUNaKoI/AAAAAAAAOVU/QDLl5nPn1v4/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-notifications.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME 3.8 notification settings"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 notification settings" border="0" height="211" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xcarKFf_WxY/UTOCJUNaKoI/AAAAAAAAOVU/QDLl5nPn1v4/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-notifications.png" title="GNOME 3.8 notification settings" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z3uBn3KkO7k/UTOCJXVkEvI/AAAAAAAAOVY/knkWsj1DwDk/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-control-center.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME 3.8 Control Center"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 Control Center" border="0" height="254" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z3uBn3KkO7k/UTOCJXVkEvI/AAAAAAAAOVY/knkWsj1DwDk/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-control-center.png" title="GNOME 3.8 Control Center" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nwGGbIcofzU/UTOCJ9shEmI/AAAAAAAAOVg/K168j1y7IBE/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-privacy.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME 3.8 privacy settings"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 privacy settings" border="0" height="188" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nwGGbIcofzU/UTOCJ9shEmI/AAAAAAAAOVg/K168j1y7IBE/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-privacy.png" title="GNOME 3.8 privacy settings" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uekdLdBUVhs/UTOCKNk1xfI/AAAAAAAAOVs/qIShHfIte18/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-search.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME 3.8 search settings"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 search settings" border="0" height="237" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uekdLdBUVhs/UTOCKNk1xfI/AAAAAAAAOVs/qIShHfIte18/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-search.png" title="GNOME 3.8 search settings" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--cd5_VVczBY/UTOCJ7ldPpI/AAAAAAAAOVk/Atb5rJR2NxE/s1600/gnome-3.8-beta-classic-session.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME 3.8 new classic session"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 - new classic GNOME session" border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--cd5_VVczBY/UTOCJ7ldPpI/AAAAAAAAOVk/Atb5rJR2NxE/s320/gnome-3.8-beta-classic-session.png" title="GNOME 3.8 - new classic GNOME session" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install / upgrade to GNOME 3.8 In Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail)</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>So, with this in mind, if you want to upgrade to the latest GNOME 3.8 in Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail, firstly add the GNOME 3 PPA:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3<br />sudo apt-get update</code></pre><b>Then launch Software Updater and upgrade the packages.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">GNOME SHell 3.8.1, GNOME Shell Extensions 3.8.1 (which include the <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/a-quick-look-at-new-gnome-classic.html">new classic GNOME session</a>), Nautilus 3.8.1, Rhythmbox 2.99.1, GDM 3.8.0, Alacarte 3.9.70, Anjuta 3.7.90, Baobab 3.7.91, Bijben 3.8.1, Caribou 0.4.10, Cheese 3.8.1, Clutter 1.1.4.0, Devhelp 3.8.0, Eog 3.8.0, Epiphany 3.7.91, Evince 3.7.92, File-roller 3.7.92, Gcr 3.8.0, Gedit 3.7.5, GNOME Boxes 3.8.0, GNOME Clocks 3.8.0, GNOME Color Management 3.8.0, GNOME Disks 3.8.0, GNOME Documents 3.7.91, GNOME Icon Theme 3.8.0, GNOME Keyring 3.7.92, GNOME Online Accounts 3.8.1, GNOME Sushi 3.8.0, GNOME Themes 3.7.91, GNOME Tweak Tool 3.8.0, GNOME Weather 3.8.1, GTK 3.8.0, Zenity 3.7.2 and dependencies. A complete list can be found HERE. , GDM 3.7.90, Nautilus 3.7.90, Clutter 1.13.6, GTK 3.7.10, Gedit 3.7.4 and others. You can see a complete package list <a href="https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3/+packages?field.name_filter=&field.status_filter=published&field.series_filter=raring">HERE</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like I was saying above, <b>for some packages which are missing from this PPA, you can also add the GNOME 3 Staging PPA</b> (but remember that this PPA contains work in progress packages or packages for which there are known regressions).</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Empathy 3.7.92, Evolution 3.8.1, GDM 3.8.1.1, GNOME Contacts 3.8.1, GNOME Control Center 3.8.1, GNOME Terminal 3.8.0, Gvfs 1.16.1, Network Manager 0.9.8.0, Pulseaudio with Logind support, Samba 3.6.9, Systemd 198 and Vino 3.7.90 and dependencies. You can see a complete list of packages available in this PPA, <a href="https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3-staging/+packages?field.name_filter=&field.status_filter=published&field.series_filter=raring">HERE</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>To add the GNOME 3 Staging PPA, use the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3-staging<br />sudo apt-get update</code></pre><br /><b>Then, launch Software Updater and do an upgrade.</b><br /><br /><br />If you want to try the <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/a-quick-look-at-new-gnome-classic.html">new Classic GNOME session</a>, install the following package:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install gnome-shell-extensions</code></pre>Then log out and select "GNOME Classic" from the login screen.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">About reporting bugs, here's what Jeremy has <a href="https://lists.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/msg00273.html">said</a> in his Ubuntu-GNOME mailing list message:</div><br /><blockquote>You can discuss issues with the PPAs in #ubuntu-gnome on Freenode/Ubuntu IRC and I believe it's ok to use Launchpad to report bugs as our work is the foundation for next cycle's packaging.</blockquote>

Install GNOME 3.8 In Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail [PPA]

A while back, it was decided that Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail will ship with GNOME 3.6 for the most part instead of GNOME 3.8. Ubuntu 13.0...

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AppIndicator Support For GNOME Shell With A New Extension

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X0JfKfJlNCc/UTFcw-_Z7rI/AAAAAAAAOTk/7q6FcL-r518/s1600/gnome-shell-indicators.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="GNOME Shell AppIndicator support"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X0JfKfJlNCc/UTFcw-_Z7rI/AAAAAAAAOTk/7q6FcL-r518/s320/gnome-shell-indicators.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A new extension adds native-looking Ubuntu Unity like AppIndicator support for GNOME Shell</b>, a feature for which some <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/06/gnome-shell-might-support-appindicators.html">patches were submited</a> more than a year ago, but they were rejected because the feature "conflicts with the design".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AppIndicators have are widely used now, with Ubuntu disabling the message tray (systray) by default, and popular applications like Dropbox or <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/get-ubuntu-mono-icons-for-steam-ubuntu.html">Steam</a> come with AppIndicator support by default.</div><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AppIndicator support for GNOME Shell is a GNOME Shell extension, which, like the name says, integrates AppIndicators into GNOME Shell and it's based on the original patches I've mentioned above, created by Giovanni Campagna.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The extension is a bit rough on the edges, but it generally works well and is basically the same as in Unity, but using GNOME Shell's theming / style.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In my short test, there was only one AppIndicator that didn't work: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/06/use-classic-menu-in-unity-classicmenu.html">ClassicMenu Indicator</a>, which is probably related to its multiple submenus, but other than that, all the AppIndicators that I've tried worked as expected, and I've tried quite a few, including Steam, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/google-calendar-indicator-adds-options.html">Calendar Indicator</a>, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/09/ubuntu-indicator-for-qt-applications.html">Skype</a> (which uses sni-qt as it doesn't come with AppIndicator support by default - this is used by all Qt apps), <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/07/monitor-hardware-temperature-in-ubuntu.html">Psensor</a>, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/2-ways-to-temporarily-disable.html">Caffeine</a>, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/everpad-25-released-with-note-sharing.html">Everpad</a>, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/variety-wallpaper-changer-sees-new.html">Variety</a>, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/12/get-htc-like-weather-clock-widget-in.html">My Weather Indicator</a> and Dropbox. Even the Ubuntu Network Manager indicator (a system indicator) has showed up.</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-McDeAG-S-K0/UTFdGrqIGAI/AAAAAAAAOTs/zOp_DDdQ3_Y/s1600/gshell-appindicator-dropbox.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Dropbox"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-McDeAG-S-K0/UTFdGrqIGAI/AAAAAAAAOTs/zOp_DDdQ3_Y/s320/gshell-appindicator-dropbox.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dropbox</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Q7XfuZmF0w/UTFdGsbJiQI/AAAAAAAAOTw/wF-oKFxDeAU/s1600/gnome-shell-appindicator-variety.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Variety Wallpaper Changer"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Q7XfuZmF0w/UTFdGsbJiQI/AAAAAAAAOTw/wF-oKFxDeAU/s320/gnome-shell-appindicator-variety.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Variety Wallpaper Changer</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--3Ew_H6p50I/UTFdGhPXTjI/AAAAAAAAOT0/YJDEqmUGh1w/s1600/gnome-shell-appindicator-system-load.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="System Load Indicator"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--3Ew_H6p50I/UTFdGhPXTjI/AAAAAAAAOT0/YJDEqmUGh1w/s320/gnome-shell-appindicator-system-load.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">System Load Indicator</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AbePedYA_6Q/UTFeACwy-lI/AAAAAAAAOUU/cBa2helM4D4/s1600/gnome-shell-appindicator-skype.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Skype"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AbePedYA_6Q/UTFeACwy-lI/AAAAAAAAOUU/cBa2helM4D4/s320/gnome-shell-appindicator-skype.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skype</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">AppIndicator extension for GNOME Shell comes with a <b>configuration tool</b> which you can use to <b>set the AppIndicators position: on the top bar and/or in the Message Tray </b>(you can even have some in the Top Bar and some in the Message Tray), as well as an option to <b>hide some of the existing AppIndicators:</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ublYeZkuZMU/UTFdPtUrJZI/AAAAAAAAOUI/IpiEw6DOMHk/s1600/gnome-shell-appindicator-config.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ublYeZkuZMU/UTFdPtUrJZI/AAAAAAAAOUI/IpiEw6DOMHk/s320/gnome-shell-appindicator-config.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1VBEiAQ6OVU/UTFdPtMAzKI/AAAAAAAAOUE/mgqoZHTqvG8/s1600/gnome-shell-appindicator-bottom.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Steam AppIndicator in the Message Tray"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1VBEiAQ6OVU/UTFdPtMAzKI/AAAAAAAAOUE/mgqoZHTqvG8/s320/gnome-shell-appindicator-bottom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GNOME Shell AppIndicators in the Message Tray</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As you can see, however, the AppIndicator icons look a lot better on the top panel. The icons don't match those used in Unity though, so they don't have a consistent look.<br />  <br />According to its <a href="https://github.com/rgcjonas/gnome-shell-extension-appindicator">GitHub page</a>, the extension is missing the following features:<br /><ul><li>support for oversized icons like the ones used by indicator-multiload (although this AppIndicator has worked in my test somehow);</li><li>labels are only supported on the Top Panel (so for instance, My Weather Indicator won't display the current weather text if used in the Message Tray);</li><li>overlay icons, icons pixmaps and tooltips. </li></ul></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">So what's next? Maybe proper Unity-like AppMenu (<a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/11/install-gnome-shell-global-menu-in.html">global menu</a>) support? Some users sure hope so and this may be a step in that direction.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install AppIndicator Support extension for GNOME Shell</h2><br /><br />I've tested the AppIndicator extension using <b>GNOME Shell 3.6</b> (in Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail) and looking at the metadata file, that's the only GNOME Shell version it supports right now. Update: the theme should also work with GNOME Shell versions newer than 3.6 - simply change the GNOME Shell version in the metadata file under ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/appindicatorsupport@rgcjonas.gmail.com/ (thanks to Mathias Rudolf for the confirmation).<br /><br /><b>You can install AppIndicator Support GNOME Shell extension from <a href="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/615/appindicator-support/">extensions.gnome.org</a> or get the code via <a href="https://github.com/rgcjonas/gnome-shell-extension-appindicator">GitHub</a>.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Important: <b>by default, the AppIndicators will be displayed at the bottom</b>, <b>in the Message Tray</b>. To change their position, use the built-in tool by clicking on the settings icon next to the extension name, either on the <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vDHl-AHBOlg/UTFi4RvLUdI/AAAAAAAAOUc/kTrTaH0ssXY/s1600/gnome-shell-extension-settings-icon.png">website</a> or in <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1m_wczkkX-g/UTFjFloseiI/AAAAAAAAOUs/LUfHc38_1lQ/s1600/gnome-shell-extension-settings-tweak-tool.png">GNOME Tweak Tool</a>.<br /><br />The extension has just been released so you may find bugs. In case you do, report them @ <a href="https://github.com/rgcjonas/gnome-shell-extension-appindicator/issues">GitHub</a>. </div>

AppIndicator Support For GNOME Shell With A New Extension

A new extension adds native-looking Ubuntu Unity like AppIndicator support for GNOME Shell , a feature for which some patches were submited ...

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How To Disable The GNOME Shell AppMenu While Retaining Its Functionality

<div style="text-align: justify;">GNOME has introduced the AppMenu for some of its core applications a while back (for some applications like Epiphany, with GNOME 3.4 and for others like Nautilus, etc. with GNOME 3.6), meaning that part of the menu or the whole menu is displayed as a drop-down on the top GNOME Shell bar:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CssfIqYJULc/USeVanQHvZI/AAAAAAAAOEU/x7oGlaoFMbE/s1600/gnome-shell-appmenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="GNOME Shell AppMenu Nautilus" border="0" height="187" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CssfIqYJULc/USeVanQHvZI/AAAAAAAAOEU/x7oGlaoFMbE/s320/gnome-shell-appmenu.png" title="GNOME Shell AppMenu Nautilus" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Some applications now have two menus:</b> an <b>AppMenu</b> that's displayed on the top GNOME Shell bar which is used for <b>actions that affect the entire application</b> and <b>another menu that's displayed in the application window, which affects the currently focused window</b>.  Such applications include: Nautilus 3.6+ (the AppMenu includes: Preferences, New Window items, etc., while the cog menu that's displayed in the application window can be used to open a new tab, create a new folder, etc.), Totem 3.6+ (uses an AppMenu and a regular horizontal window menu) or Epiphany (Web) browser.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other GNOME applications only use an AppMenu, without a secondary window menu: GNOME Documents, Contacts, Boxes, Cheese or Empathy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While using an AppMenu for actions that affect the entire application and another one for window-specific actions makes sense in theory, in reality this seems to have caused confusion, inconsistency and some would say that it brings no real benefit. Further more, <b>GNOME Shell's top bar is only displayed on the main monitor </b>when using multiple monitors and thus, if you want to access it for an application that's displayed on another monitor, the mouse needs to travel a considerable distance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And this isn't confusing just for GNOME Shell users. <b>The GNOME Shell AppMenu is also used in Unity and for instance, in Nautilus 3.6 (which is installed by default in Ubuntu 13.04 and can easily be <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/how-to-install-nautilus-36-or-patched.html">installed in Ubuntu 12.10</a> using the GNOME 3 PPA)</b>, it's not clear that there's a menu on the top Unity panel:</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMPFSf6ZWlc/USeV1k4fRZI/AAAAAAAAOEc/L4wtCSagBYs/s1600/nautilus-unity-confusing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMPFSf6ZWlc/USeV1k4fRZI/AAAAAAAAOEc/L4wtCSagBYs/s320/nautilus-unity-confusing.png" title="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It doesn't look like there's a menu on the top panel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kRf5yngBOh0/USeV173_dOI/AAAAAAAAOEg/Whu8Xao39y0/s1600/nautilus-unity-confusing_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kRf5yngBOh0/USeV173_dOI/AAAAAAAAOEg/Whu8Xao39y0/s320/nautilus-unity-confusing_2.png" title="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But there is a menu...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Further more, Ubuntu 13.04 (with Unity) users can't access the Totem preferences<b>, </b>among other menu items, because Totem uses the classic horizontal menu and thus, the menu is displayed on the top Unity panel, so the Shell AppMenu is not displayed at all - I've reported the bug <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/totem/+bug/1131754">here</a>, hopefully this will be fixed in Ubuntu.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So here's how to remove the AppMenu, but retain its functionality.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>How the menus will work after disabling the GNOME Shell AppMenu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Removing the GNOME Shell AppMenu doesn't mean you'll lose the AppMenu menu items. They will still be available - here's how things will work after using the instructions below:</b></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">for Nautilus 3.6+ and Epiphany 3.6+, the contents of the AppMenu will be merged into the Cog menu; for Epiphany 3.4, the Shell AppMenu will be displayed in the application window, but not as a horizontal menu bar but as a single menu item;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">GNOME Shell: for Totem 3.6+, you'll get a new menu in the application window, so the menu will be displayed on two lines. I'm not aware of a work-around for this (hopefully, Totem will at least get a cog menu soon);</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Unity: this tweak will only affect Nautilus 3.6+ and Epiphany 3.6+. For applications that only have a Shell AppMenu, the menu will continue to only be displayed on the top panel. Also, for Nautilus 3.6 and Epiphany 3.6, the contents of the Shell AppMenu will be merged in the cog menu, but it will also be displayed on the top panel;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">for the applications that only use a Shell AppMenu (GNOME Documents, Contacts, Empathy, Cheese, etc.), the menu will be displayed in the application window, but not as a horizontal menu bar but as a single menu item (see screenshot below).</li></ul><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5MTgJj-96Lk/USevFlwyPPI/AAAAAAAAOE0/N5VworbN9Z0/s1600/gnome-documents.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="GNOME Documents AppMenu displayed in the window" border="0" height="102" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5MTgJj-96Lk/USevFlwyPPI/AAAAAAAAOE0/N5VworbN9Z0/s320/gnome-documents.png" title="GNOME Documents AppMenu displayed in the window" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GNOME Documents with the AppMenu displayed in the application window</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And an extra note for Unity with Totem 3.6+ (installed by default in Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail): you can get access to Totem's Shell AppMenu without using the tweak below, by launching Totem with "<i>UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0 totem</i>" so you'll get the regular menu in the application window and the Shell AppMenu on the top Unity panel (actually, using the tweak below won't fix Totem and you'll still have to use that command).</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Disable the GNOME Shell AppMenu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Don't worry, if you don't like the way things work after disabling the Shell Appmenu, you can easily revert this change.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME Shell 3.4:</b> To disable the AppMenu but still get the AppMenu functionality in the application window, simply install the <a href="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/32/remove-panel-app-menu/">Remove Panel App Menu</a> GNOME Shell extension.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME Shell 3.6: </b>The Remove Panel App Menu extension doesn't yet support GNOME Shell 3.6, but you can still remove the AppMenu and get its functionality in the application window. To do this, firstly install the <a href="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/591/remove-app-menu/">Remove App Menu</a> GNOME Shell extension. Unlike the other extension, this one only only removes the AppMenu from the top GNOME Shell panel, but the AppMenu functionality isn't added to the application window. To get the AppMenu functionality in the main application window, you can simply use the command below:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides '@a{sv} {"Gtk/ShellShowsAppMenu": <int32 0>}'</code></pre><br />You can also use the command above if you want the AppMenu functionality in the main application window, but you also want the AppMenu to be displayed on the top GNOME Shell panel.<br /><br /><b> If you want to revert this change use the command below:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides '@a{sv} {}'</code></pre>and also, disable the  extension (either "Remove App Menu" or "Remove Panel App Menu", depending on which you've installed).<br /><br />You don't need to restart GNOME Shell or even the applications -  the changes will be applied instantly. <br /><br /><b>Since Unity users can't install GNOME Shell extensions, they can use the same command as above to get the AppMenu functionality in the "cog" menu for Nautilus 3.6+ and Epiphany 3.6+.</b><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>some bits via GNOME Shell <a href="https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-shell-list/2013-February/thread.html">mailing list</a>.</i></div>

How To Disable The GNOME Shell AppMenu While Retaining Its Functionality

GNOME has introduced the AppMenu for some of its core applications a while back (for some applications like Epiphany, with GNOME 3.4 and for...

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Ubuntu GNOME Remix 13.04 Switches To Firefox And LibreOffice By Default, Replacing Epiphany, Abiword And Gnumeric

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>After a recent <a href="http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/raring/+source/ubuntu-gnome-meta/0.7">update</a>, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/prefer-gnome-shell-download-ubuntu.html">Ubuntu GNOME Remix</a> 13.04 (currently under development) has switched to Firefox and LibreOffice by default, replacing Epiphany, Abiword and Gnumeric.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TnubLHCE2Qg/USYz7B12AQI/AAAAAAAAN-s/itQRCOCw38g/s1600/ubuntu-gnome-remix.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="ubuntu gnome remix" border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TnubLHCE2Qg/USYz7B12AQI/AAAAAAAAN-s/itQRCOCw38g/s320/ubuntu-gnome-remix.png" title="ubuntu gnome remix" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="http://lists.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/msg00265.html">message</a> on the Ubuntu GNOME mailing list, Jeremy Bicha, the main UGR developer, has said that even though Epiphany is part of the GNOME Core, GNOME doesn't mind too much that most distros ship with Firefox instead and further more, WebKit is rarely updated in the stable Ubuntu releases, which makes Firefox a better choice for security updates.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for the inclusion of LibreOffice by default, there are many reasons, including better support for various file formats and LibreOffice Impress which doesn't really have an equivalent. Further more, Fedora has also switched to LibreOffice recently.<br /><br />This breaks a bit the idea of having an Ubuntu spin that offers a pure GNOME experience, but the reasons behind the change do make sense. However, maybe shipping with both Epiphany and Firefox by default would be a better idea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the same message, Jeremy has also asked for Ubuntu GNOME Remix users' opinion about not shipping with an email client by default, because many use webmail anyway and those who actually use an email client don't have a clear favourite, using both Evolution and Thunderbird. What do you think?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This of course doesn't mean you can't install Epiphany, Abiword, Gnumeric, Evolution or Thunderbird - they will be available for installation via Ubuntu Software Center like any other application so these changes will only affect the default application stack.</div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via LP (<a href="http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/raring/+source/ubuntu-gnome-meta/0.7">1</a>, <a href="http://lists.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/msg00265.html">2</a>), <a href="http://sejalivre.org/ubuntu-gnome-remix-vira-com-firefox-e-libreoffice-porem-sem-clientes-de-e-mail/">sejalivre.org</a></i></div>

Ubuntu GNOME Remix 13.04 Switches To Firefox And LibreOffice By Default, Replacing Epiphany, Abiword And Gnumeric

After a recent update , Ubuntu GNOME Remix 13.04 (currently under development) has switched to Firefox and LibreOffice by default, replacin...

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A Quick Look At The New GNOME Classic Session (Now Available In The GNOME Testing PPA)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Fcc3pVRNto/URlNih9O16I/AAAAAAAANj0/HDPImzV8T9A/s1600/gnome-classic_1.png" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="New GNOME Classic Shell session"><img alt="New GNOME Classic Shell session" border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Fcc3pVRNto/URlNih9O16I/AAAAAAAANj0/HDPImzV8T9A/s320/gnome-classic_1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>As you probably know, <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/fallback-mode-classic-session-to-be.html">the fallback mode will be dropped with GNOME 3.8</a> and instead, users will be able to use a set of GNOME Shell extensions that provide a GNOME2-like layout. Recently, these changes have landed in the GNOME Testing PPA for Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04.</b></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">After some recent updates to the GNOME Testing PPA, a new "GNOME Classic" session has showed up in the login screen:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-gdm.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Classic Shell login screen"><img alt="GNOME Classic Shell login screen" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-gdm_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>This isn't the old fallback session</b> (which used to be called 'Classic GNOME Session' in Ubuntu), <b>but a new session in which you're still using GNOME Shell</b>, but with some extensions enabled by default that try to provide a GNOME2-like layout.<br /><br />The first thing you'll notice when using the new GNOME Classic session is that it comes with a <b>light theme</b>, as opposed to the standard GNOME Shell session which uses a dark theme by default. <b>Using this session, you'll get:</b><br /><ul><li>a window list on a panel at the bottom of the screen, with a notification counter at the right;</li><li>an application menu and a places drop-down on the top panel;</li><li>minimize, maximize and close buttons by default (the standard GNOME Shell only uses a close button);</li><li>classic ALT + TAB;</li><li>the clock / calendar has been moved to the right.</li></ul></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The extensions used by the new GNOME Classic session</b> are: AlternateTab, Places Status Indicator, Applications Menu, Static workspaces, Window List, Default Minimize and Maximize and Launch New Instance.</div><br />Here are some screenshots:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_2.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Classic session: menu"><img alt="GNOME Classic session: menu" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_2_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_3.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Classic session: Places"><img alt="GNOME Classic session: Places" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_3_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_4.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Classic session: user menu"><img alt="GNOME Classic session: user menu" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_4_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_5.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Classic session: Activities Overview (black background probably because I'm using it in VirtualBox)"><img alt="GNOME Classic session: Activities Overview (black background probably because I'm using it in VirtualBox)" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic_5_thumb.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(black background probably because I'm using it in VirtualBox)</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-alt-tab.png" rel="image_group" title="Classic ALT + Tab"><img alt="Classic ALT + Tab" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-alt-tab_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Since these are just extensions on top of GNOME Shell, <b>there are some advantages over the old fallback mode: you'll be able to use GNOME Shell's features </b>such as the <b>Activities Overview</b>, get <b>GNOME Shell notifications</b>, <b>use other extensions</b> and so on. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-notifications.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="GNOME Classic: notifications"><img alt="GNOME Classic: notifications" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-notifications_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notifications</td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-notifications_2.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="GNOME Classic: notifications and message tray"><img alt="GNOME Classic: notifications and message tray" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-classic-notifications_2_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notifications / message tray</td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">But there are some <b>disadvantages </b>too: the extensions bundled with the new GNOME Classic session are very simple and with only some basic features so users coming from the old fallback session will probably miss some of its features. For instance, right clicking an item on the bottom panel doesn't do anything, you can't right click a panel to add new applets (and there are no applets), there are no tray icons on the top panel and so on. </div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Further more, while the notification count is displayed at the right of the bottom panel which is nice, the actual notifications are displayed at the bottom (center) just like in the standard GNOME Shell session, so they show up on top of the window list which is pretty annoying, as you can see in the screenshots above.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME Shell 3.8 is still under development, so the GNOME Classic session extensions will probably be polished further,</b> but even so, they still won't get all the features that were available in the old classic / fallback session so I wonder if this will be enough to please all those users who were using the old fallback session. What do you think?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you want to test these changes in Ubuntu 12.10* or 13.04, you'll have to add the <a href="https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3">GNOME 3 PPA</a> as well as the <a href="https://launchpad.net/~ricotz/+archive/testing/+packages">GNOME Testing PPA</a> (but the GNOME Testing PPA is highly unstable so I advise you to only use it in a virtual machine), then run a "dist-upgrade". </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">* In my test, the new GNOME Classic session didn't show up in the login screen for Ubuntu 12.10 for some reason, but it was available for Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>thanks to deusmetallum @ <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/184sgx/gnomeclassic_now_available_in_the_gnometesting/">Reddit</a></i></div>

A Quick Look At The New GNOME Classic Session (Now Available In The GNOME Testing PPA)

As you probably know, the fallback mode will be dropped with GNOME 3.8 and instead, users will be able to use a set of GNOME Shell extensio...

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GNOME Shell 3.8: Redesigned Search

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME 3.8 will feature a redesigned search</b> which displays the results in a list. A new search settings panel will allow users to configure the GNOME Shell search: you can enable or disable searching for documents, files, contacts or boxes and so on as well as a way to configure search locations:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-shell-3.8-search-settings.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Shell 3.8 search settings"><img alt="GNOME Shell 3.8 search settings" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-shell-3.8-search-settings_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-shell-3.8-search-locations.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME Shell 3.8 search locations settings"><img alt="GNOME Shell 3.8 search locations" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-shell-3.8-search-locations_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The new GNOME Shell 3.8 search results are provided by individual applications and selecting a result will open it in the respective application. There's a limit of 3 results per application in GS, but more can be displayed within the application.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And speaking of settings, there's also a new Privacy panel which lets the user configure what information is revealed in various locations like the lock screen, history (recent files) and so on:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-3.8-privacy.png" rel="image_group" title="GNOME 3.8 privacy settings panel"><img alt="GNOME 3.8 privacy settings panel" src="http://img.netupd8.com/gnome-3.8-privacy_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though the design isn't the same, the new Search settings panel and the Privacy panel provide together more or less the same settings that are available in the Unity Privacy settings panel, so once again the Unity and GNOME Shell designers have similar ideas, although obviously, the implementations are different.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Below you can see the new GNOME Shell 3.8 (work in progress) search redesign:</div><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3qVJLOK_zao" width="420"></iframe><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qVJLOK_zao">direct video link</a>)</center><br />These new features are already available in the latest GNOME 3.8 development releases (3.7.x). GNOME 3.8 is scheduled to be released on March 27.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via / more info @ <a href="http://blogs.gnome.org/cosimoc/2013/01/16/search-improvements-in-gnome-3-8/">Cosimo’s blog</a></i></div>

GNOME Shell 3.8: Redesigned Search

GNOME 3.8 will feature a redesigned search which displays the results in a list. A new search settings panel will allow users to configure ...

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Fedora 18 `Spherical Cow` Released

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-desktop.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 desktop"><img alt="Fedora 18 screenshot" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-desktop_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><b><a href="http://fedoraproject.org/">Fedora</a> 18 "Spherical Cow" has been <a href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/F18_release_announcement?stF18">released</a> today, featuring the latest stable GNOME 3.6 by default and a brand new installer UI.</b><br /><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><h2>New installer UI</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Fedora 18 introduces <b>UEFI Secure Boot support</b> so it can now be used on system shipped with Windows 8, as well as a <b>new user interface for the installer</b> (Anaconda), which is now easier to use for new users, while more advanced users can still access advanced settings:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 installer"><img alt="Fedora 18 installer screenshot" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer_2.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 installer"><img alt="Fedora 18 installer screenshot" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer_2_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer-bug.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 installer"><img alt="Fedora 18 installer" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer-bug_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer_3.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 installer"><img alt="Fedora 18 installer" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-installer_3_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">However, the new installer is not 100% complete so check out the <a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F18_bugs#Installation_issues">known issues</a>. For instance, I found it a bit confusing that after setting the "Installation Destination" hard disk but not changing the partitions, the "Please complete items marked with this icon before continuing to the next step" message at the bottom was still displayed for a few seconds.</div><br /><br /><h2>GNOME 3.6</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME 3.6</b> (with GNOME Shell as the default "shell" interface) is used by default in Fedora 18: Nautilus, GNOME Contacts, Boxes, Documents, Totem (Videos), etc. are all there.</div><br />Here are some Fedora 18 screenshots:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-activities.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 - Activities Overview"><img alt="Fedora 18 screenshots" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-activities_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-activities-apps.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 - Activities Overview"><img alt="Fedora 18 screenshots" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-activities-apps_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-backgrounds.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 - GNOME Control Center backgrounds pane"><img alt="Fedora 18 screenshots" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-backgrounds_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br />For more about GNOME 3.6, see: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/09/gnome-36-released-see-whats-new.html">GNOME 3.6 Released - See What's New</a><br /><br /><br /><h2>Cinnamon, MATE Desktop available in the repositories</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, users who don't like GNOME Shell can now use Cinnamon or MATE Desktop since both are available in the official Fedora 18 repositories, along with Xfce 4.10, KDE Plasma Workspace 4.9 or LXDE (these last 3 are also available as Fedora Spins)</div><br /><br /><h2>Other changes</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Fedora 18 introduces a <b>new tool that's used for the upgrade process</b> (to newer Fedora versions) called fedUP. For how to upgrade the system using fedUP, see <a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedUp#How_Can_I_Upgrade_My_System_with_FedUp.3F">THIS</a> page.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-updates-logout.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 updates"><img alt="Fedora 18 updates screenshot" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-updates-logout_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, Fedora 18 introduces <b>offline updates</b> and while many updates can still be made on the fly, <b>some packages will require a system restart</b>. The system will boot into a special update mode "in order to avoid problems related to conflicts of libraries and services that are currently running with those on disk", says the <a href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/OfflineSystemUpdates">Fedora Wiki</a>.</div><br /><b>Other changes include:</b><br /><ul><li>Improved storage management SSM (System Storage Manager)</li><li>/tmp is used as <b>tmpfs</b> by default, this bringing less I/O generated on the disk, increases SSD life, saves power and improves overall performance,</li><li>More!</li></ul><br /><br /><b>For more info, see the official <a href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/F18_release_announcement?stF18">Fedora 18 release notes</a>.</b><br /><br /><br /><br /><h2>Default applications in Fedora 18</h2><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-nautilus-gcc.png" rel="image_group" title="Fedora 18 - Nautilus and GNOME Control Center"><img alt="Fedora 18 screenshots" src="http://img.netupd8.com/fedora18-nautilus-gcc_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Fedora 18 ships with Linux Kernel 3.6 (3.6.10), but 3.7 is already offered as an update, X Server 1.13 and features default applications such as: Nautilus 3.6.3, GNOME Control Center 3.6.3, Evolution 3.6.3, GNOME Documents 3.6.2, GNOME Boxes 3.6.2, Deja Dup backup tool 24.0, Rhythmbox 2.98, Empathy 3.6.2, Firefox 18, Cheese 3.6.2, Shotwell 0.13.1, Transmission 2.72, GDM 3.6.2 and LibreOffice 3.6.3.2, among others, all on top of GNOME 3.6 and GTK 3.6.2.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Download Fedora 18</h2><br /><h4 style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options">Download Fedora 18</a></h4><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And don't forget to try <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/fedora-utils-adds-fedora-17-support.html">Fedora Utils</a> after installing Fedora, a tool to tweak Fedora and easily install packages which are not available in the main Fedora repositories.</div>

Fedora 18 `Spherical Cow` Released

Fedora 18 "Spherical Cow" has been released today, featuring the latest stable GNOME 3.6 by default and a brand new installer UI...

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Elegance Colors GNOME Shell Theme Gets New Customization Options

<div style="text-align: justify;">Elegance Colors, a GNOME Shell theme that can automatically change its colors based on the current GTK theme or wallpaper, has been updated today with many new customization options.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors-preferences.png" title="Elegance Colors Preferences"><img alt="Elegance Colors Preferences" src="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors-preferences_thumb.png" /></a></div><br />Here's <b>what's new in Elegance Colors 1.1:</b><br /><ul><li>Options to customize Background color, Text color, Border color, Background opacity, Border opacity etc. for Panel, Menu and Dialogs</li><li>Added 5 inbulit presets to choose from</li><li>Better export dialog for exporting the theme</li><li>Ability to import/export settings (via the Gmenu on the top GNOME Shell panel)</li><li>Support deriving color from more GTK themes</li><li>Toggling "Monitor changes" now starts or stops the background process accordingly</li><li>New styles for Buttons and Entries</li><li>Option to customize Font family</li><li>Option to customize the Gradient for the Dash in overview</li><li>Option to customize Roundness of the theme</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">With this release, Elegance Colors has evolved from a chameleonic and beautiful, but other than that a pretty much standard theme, to basically a template that you can use to make your own custom GNOME Shell themes.</div><br /><a name='more'></a>A few screenshots:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors_1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Various customizations + color derived from the wallpaper"><img alt="Elegance Colors GNOME Shell theme" src="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors_1_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Various customizations + color derived from the wallpaper</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors_2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Color derived from GTK theme"><img alt="Elegance Colors gnome shell theme" src="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors_2_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Color derived from GTK theme</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors_3.png"><img alt="Elegance Colors GNOME Shell theme" src="http://img.netupd8.com/elegance-colors_3_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though they look like completely different themes, I'm using Elegance Colors in all the images, but customized using the built-in preferences dialog. And that's just a small part of what you can do using the Elegance Colors customization tool.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Elegance Colors in Ubuntu 12.10</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The latest Elegance Colors is available in its official PPA for Ubuntu 12.10 / GNOME Shell 3.6. Add the PPA and install the theme using the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:satyajit-happy/themes<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install gnome-shell-theme-elegance-colors</code></pre><br /><b>For other Linux distributions, you can download GNOME Shell Elegance Colors theme from <a href="http://satya164.deviantart.com/art/Gnome-Shell-Elegance-Colors-305966388">DeviantArt</a> or <a href="https://github.com/satya164/elegance-colors">GitHub</a>.</b><br /><br /><br /><br /><b>To use Elegance Colors, you'll need the User Themes GNOME Shell extension</b> which can be installed via <a href="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/19/user-themes/">extensions.gnome.org</a> or from the Ubuntu 12.10 repositories:<br /><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install gnome-shell-extensions</code></pre><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you've installed the User Themes extensions via GNOME's website, you'll need to run the following command for Elegance Colors to work:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo elegance-colors fix</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you've upgraded from an older Elegance Colors version, firstly stop the Elegance Colors process using the following command:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>killall elegance-colors</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">Once you've installed the theme and the User Themes extension, run the following command in a terminal to start the Elegance Colors process, which is used to apply the theme changes:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>elegance-colors</code></pre>You can also simply log out and log back in.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And finally, set the new theme via <i>GNOME Tweak Tool > Theme > Shell theme</i> and tweak it by launching Elegance Colors Preferences from the Activities Overview.</div><br />

Elegance Colors GNOME Shell Theme Gets New Customization Options

Elegance Colors, a GNOME Shell theme that can automatically change its colors based on the current GTK theme or wallpaper, has been updated ...

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