GNOME Shell 3.8 To Get A `Classic` Mode

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwxwoIHNYUHYVduWk6A4SLvlCn38TenWDQlAb8Q9cRxQMmgEVep-mr2wvZvXJHkrdEawAAg54A24J7AzOe_UMWDsSWIE29PdylupF-tOlTcmau4gvHJTS3NutRYuJlboOXQGtlc9t0ATD/s1700/shell_4.png"><img alt="Classic GNOME Shell" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwxwoIHNYUHYVduWk6A4SLvlCn38TenWDQlAb8Q9cRxQMmgEVep-mr2wvZvXJHkrdEawAAg54A24J7AzOe_UMWDsSWIE29PdylupF-tOlTcmau4gvHJTS3NutRYuJlboOXQGtlc9t0ATD/s320/shell_4.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Two weeks ago, we were telling you that the <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/fallback-mode-classic-session-to-be.html">fallback mode will be dropped from GNOME 3.8</a> and that some extensions which provide a GNOME 2 like layout might be maintained by the GNOME developers for those who are used to the classic interface.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, it's now<b> official</b>: a few <b>GNOME Shell extensions which bring back some "classic" features will be supported by GNOME</b>. Among the extensions included are: <b>classic alt tab, task bar, min/max buttons and a main menu</b>.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Sure, there are a lot of extensions that can already mimic the classic/fallback session on <a href="http://extensions.gnome.org/">extensions.gnome.org</a>, but for each GNOME Shell release, the users have to wait for the developers to update them, and sometimes this takes a long time, so it's not a real solution for those who want to always use a GNOME2-like UI. </div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">But because these extensions are supported by the GNOME developers, it means they will work with each new GNOME Shell version, as soon as its released.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A final decision on how the users will be able to use these extensions hasn't been made yet, but <b>one of the ideas so far is to add a "classic mode" switch in GNOME Tweak Tool</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Note: the screenshot in this post does not represent any of the new extensions, it's an old GNOME 3.0 image with some extensions.</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via GNOME <a href="https://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2012-November/msg00093.html">desktop-devel</a> mailing list</i></div>

GNOME Shell 3.8 To Get A `Classic` Mode

Two weeks ago, we were telling you that the fallback mode will be dropped from GNOME 3.8 and that some extensions which provide a GNOME 2 l...

+ Read more »

New Icons For Ubuntu Software Center, Nautilus, Software Updater And Unity Launcher Revealed [Ubuntu 13.04]

<div style="text-align: justify;">A <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/1081702">bug</a> called "Update the default wallpaper in 13.04" has been reported on Launchpad today, revealing the new Ubuntu 13.04 wallpaper which, like we're used to, is just a slightly modified version of the previous default wallpaper:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/ubuntu_default_13_04.jpg"><img alt="Ubuntu 13.04 default wallpaper" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/ubuntu_default_13_04_thumb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">But the bug report I was talking about revealed something a lot more interesting than this: it links to <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/1081691">bug</a> <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/1081697">reports</a> about some <b>new icons which will be used for Ubuntu Software Center, Nautilus, Software Updater and some launcher icons like the BFB icon</b> (the Launcher icon that's used to open Dash), <b>or the workspace switcher</b> (the new icon should change depending on which workspace is currently being utilised, but this hasn't been implemented in Unity yet) which you can see below:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/preview-new-launcher-icons.png"><img alt="Ubuntu 13.04 new icons" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/preview-new-launcher-icons_thumb.png" /></a></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Since the icons don't exactly express what they do, let me explain: the icon in the middle of the ALT+TAB dialog in the screenshot above is the new Ubuntu Software Center icon, the one on the right of the USC icon is the Software Update icon (the green icon). And the icon on the left of USC, as you've probably figured out, is the Nautilus icon.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The new wallpaper / icons have not landed in Ubuntu 13.04 yet and are subject to change.</div><br /><b>What do you think? Do you like the new icons?</b><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>wallpaper bug via <a href="http://www.iloveubuntu.net/default-wallpaper-ubuntu-1304-officially-published">iloveubuntu.net</a></i></div>

New Icons For Ubuntu Software Center, Nautilus, Software Updater And Unity Launcher Revealed [Ubuntu 13.04]

A bug called "Update the default wallpaper in 13.04" has been reported on Launchpad today, revealing the new Ubuntu 13.04 wallpap...

+ Read more »

Install MPlayer With VA-API (Hardware Acceleration For Intel / AMD GPUs) Support In Ubuntu

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>VA-API is an open source library/API which enables hardware accelerated video processing. It uses the GPU to accelerate video processing in order to offload the CPU.</b><br /><br />Supported hardware includes <b>Intel HD Graphics and G45 chipsets and newer</b> as well as <b>AMD Radeon GPUs</b> (there's also a Nvidia VDPAU backend for VA-API). <b>You can find a list of supported hardware, drivers and video codecs <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Acceleration_API#Supported_hardware_and_drivers" rel="nofollow">HERE</a></b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's an example: on my laptop (Ubuntu), the CPU usage is around 40-50% when watching an 1080p H.264 video using MPlayer without VA-API and around 2-5% when watching the same 1080p video using MPlayer with VA-API. You can see some screenshots below:</div><br /><a name='more'></a><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://netupd8.com/w8img2/mplayer-novaapi.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="CPU usage: MPlayer without VA-API"><img alt="mplayer without vaapi" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/mplayer-novaapi_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CPU usage: MPlayer without VA-API</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://netupd8.com/w8img2/mplayer-vaapi.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="CPU usage: MPlayer with VA-API (on an Intel GPU)"><img alt="mplayer vaapi" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/mplayer-vaapi_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CPU usage: MPlayer with VA-API</td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><h2>Install Intel / AMD VA-API drivers in Ubuntu</h2><br />Before installing MPlayer with VA-API support, <b>install the VA-API drivers:</b><br /><br /><b>- for Intel GPUs (for Intel HD Graphics as well as G45 and later):</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install i965-va-driver</code></pre><br /><b>- for AMD Radeon GPUs (you also need the proprietary drivers!):</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install xvba-va-driver</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The Intel VA-API driver is available in the official Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin (and newer) repositories. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Nvidia users: MPlayer supports VDPAU by default so everything you need for hardware accelerated video decoding is already in the repositories. See <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2010/10/use-mplayer-with-vaapi-support-hardware.html">THIS</a> old post for more info (unless something has changed, but I can't test it since I have Nvidia Optimus and Bumblebee doesn't support VDPAU). You can also use the "vdpau-va-driver" driver which is a VDPAU-based backend for VA-API and follow use the instructions below to install Mplayer with VA-API.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><h2>Install MPlayer with VA-API support in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">By default, the MPlayer version available in the official Ubuntu repositories doesn't support VA-API, but you can use a PPA which provides custom MPlayer builds with VA-API support.</div><br /><b>To install MPlayer with VA-API support in Ubuntu 13.10, 13.04, 12.10, 12.04 or 11.10, use the following commands:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sander-vangrieken/vaapi<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install mplayer-vaapi</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once installed, open SMPlayer (or whatever MPlayer GUI you're using: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/install-gnome-mplayer-107-in-ubuntu-1210.html">Gnome Mplayer</a>, KMPlayer, etc.) and in its Preferences, on the Video tab (in SMPlayer: <i>General Video > Output driver</i>) <b>set the video output driver to "vaapi"</b>:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/smplayer-vaapi.png" rel="image_group" title="SMPlayer VA API video output settings"><img alt="SMPlayer vaapi" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/smplayer-vaapi_thumb.png" /></a></div><br />That's it!<br /><br /><br /><b>Other Linux distributions:</b><br /><ul><li>Arch Linux users can install MPlayer with VA-API support from the <a href="https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/i686/mplayer-vaapi/">community repository</a>.</li><li>The mplayer-vaapi source can be downloaded via <a href="http://gitorious.org/vaapi/mplayer">gitorious.org</a></li></ul><br /><b>Note: I've tested this on an Intel GPU only!</b><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://help.ubuntu.ru/wiki/%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B6%D0%BA%D0%B0_hd_%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE">Ubuntu.ru wiki</a></i></div>

Install MPlayer With VA-API (Hardware Acceleration For Intel / AMD GPUs) Support In Ubuntu

VA-API is an open source library/API which enables hardware accelerated video processing. It uses the GPU to accelerate video processing in ...

+ Read more »

Primus: Better Performance And Less Power Consumption For Bumblebee [Optimus Hybrid Graphics Chipsets]

<div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Nvidia Optimus is a technology used to increases battery life by switching between two graphics adapters (a low-performance integrated Intel graphics adapter and a high-performance one by Nvidia) within a computer system. Optimus GPU switching is officially only supported on Windows, but it's also unofficially available on Linux thanks to the Bumblebee project.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://github.com/amonakov/primus">Primus</a> brings better performance and less power consumption when using <a href="http://www.bumblebee-project.org/">Bumblebee</a></b>, by replacing VirtualGL. According to the Bumblebee <a href="http://www.bumblebee-project.org/g+">G+</a> page, this has the following <b>advantages over the optirun (VirtualGL) solution</b> used by default in Bumblebee:</div><a name='more'></a><ul><li>Less overhead (better framerates) and cleaner solution (no networking or compression involved at all)</li><li>Fixes the "bug" that causes Bumblebee to shut down the GPU too early sometimes (no more need for the "optirun bash" workaround)</li><li>Less buggy/glitchy, easier to debug</li><li>Only uses/starts secondary GPU for OpenGL parts of applications - everything else remains on your main GPU (power savings)</li></ul><br />The Bumblebee developers explain what Primus does and the difference between Primus / optirun in simple terms in a comment on their G+ page:<br /><br /><blockquote>Bumblebee uses VirtualGL to copy the image generated by the second (faster) GPU to your display. VirtualGL was intended for use over a network though, so it takes a great many steps to enable this (compression, sending the image over a network link, decompression, etc).<br /><br />Primus doesn't perform all these "extra" steps, instead taking a more direct route (copying the rendered image in memory to the other GPU, then displaying there). In theory this should get you better performance as well as better compatibility. Running applications will "see" the OpenGL implementation of your real hardware, nothing virtual is presented to them.</blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">For comparison, here are the framerates I get on my laptop when using the integrated Intel graphics, when using the Nvidia graphics card using optirun and using primusrun (this is just for FPS and not an indicator for the whole performance!): </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://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-regular.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Using integrated (Intel) graphics"><img alt="glxspheres intel gpu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-regular_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Integrated (Intel) graphics</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://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-optirun.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Using optirun (default in Bumblebee) with Nvidia GPU"><img alt="glxspheres optirun bumblebee" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-optirun_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">optirun (default in Bumblebee) using the Nvidia GPU</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://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-primus.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Using Primus with Nvidia GPU - best performance of the 3"><img alt="glxspheres primusrun bumblebee" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-primus_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Primus using the Nvidia GPU</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As you can see, the FPS using  Primus is a lot better than using the integrated graphics or using optirun with the Nvidia GPU.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note: I've used "vblank_mode=0 primusrun" instead of simply running "primusrun" because that was recommended by the Primus GitHub page for benchmarking. Without it, I get just 60 FPS because of vblank synchronisation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Update: Primus has been integrated into Bumblebee and is now available in the Bumblebee Ubuntu PPA.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>How to install Primus for Bumblebee in Ubuntu</h2><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Update: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/bumblebee-31-released-with-primus.html">Primus is now available in the Bumblebee Stable PPA</a>. To add the Bumblebee PPA and install Primus and Bumblebee, use the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia primus</code></pre><b>64bit: </b>you also need to install the "primus-libs-ia32:i386" package:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install primus-libs-ia32:i386</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For other Linux distributions, see the <a href="http://bumblebee-project.org/install.html">Bumblebee Wiki</a> for installation instructions.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Once installed, use "primusrun APP", to launch an application or game</b> - this works just like the "optirun" command available in Bumblebee ("APP" is the application or game executable which you want to run using the Nvidia GPU). You can also use "<b>bumblebee -b primus APP</b>".</div>

Primus: Better Performance And Less Power Consumption For Bumblebee [Optimus Hybrid Graphics Chipsets]

Nvidia Optimus is a technology used to increases battery life by switching between two graphics adapters (a low-performance integrated Intel...

+ Read more »

Team Fortress 2 Available On Linux For Non-Beta Steam Accounts

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Team Fortress 2, a free to play first-person shooter (FPS) multiplayer game, is now available for everyone using the Linux Steam client</b>, and not just those who have received a beta invitation, so non-beta users shouldn't see the "server is too busy" error when trying to download the game any more.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/tf2_ubuntu.png" rel="image_group" title="Team Fortress 2 running on Steam for Linux under Ubuntu"><img alt="Team Fortress 2 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/tf2_ubuntu_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/team-fortress-2-ubuntu_1.png" rel="image_group" title="Team Fortress 2 running on Steam for Linux under Ubuntu"><img alt="team fortress 2 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/team-fortress-2-ubuntu_1_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It seems this is a mistake from Valve, which fixed a bug that prevented Ubuntu Developer Summit participants from playing Team Fortress 2 and in the process, somehow the game ended up as being available for everyone. This might mean that Team Fortress 2 won't be available after Valve fixes the glitch, but considering they haven't fixed the bug that allows non-beta accounts to use Steam for Linux, they might allow this as well.<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/steam-team-fortress-2.png" rel="image_group" title="Downloading Team Fortress 2 on Steam for Linux"><img alt="Team Fortress 2 game Ubuntu Steam" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/steam-team-fortress-2_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">To play Team Fortress 2 in Linux without a Steam for Linux beta account, firstly <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/how-to-use-steam-for-linux-right-now.html" title="How To Use Steam For Linux Right Now, Without A Beta Account">install Steam for Linux</a>, then launch Steam, search for Team Fortress 2, click the "Play game" button and then wait for the download to complete - it will take a while since <b>12 GB</b> of data needs to be downloaded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Tip for those who have TF2 installed on Windows: you can copy the .gcf files from the Windows installation to <i>~/Steam/SteamApps/</i> and rename each word to start with a capital letter (e.g.: "Team Fortress 2 Client Content.gcf") to speed things up - only a few MB of data will need to be downloaded once you do this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Note: in my test, the Team Fortress 2 download seemed stuck at 99%, but I was able to launch the game anyway and although it took a while to launch it for the first time, it worked just fine. After that, the Steam for Linux client displays the game as being installed successfully.<br /><br />Oh, and remember that Steam is currently in beta, so things might break, you might get bad performance or the game might not work at all for you.</div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://linuxgamecast.com/2012/11/steam-on-linux-team-fortress-2-open-beta-has-launched/">linuxgamecast.com</a>, <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/221410/discussions/0/882966056462819091/">http://steamcommunity.com/app/221410</a> and <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/linux">reddit</a></i></div>

Team Fortress 2 Available On Linux For Non-Beta Steam Accounts

Team Fortress 2, a free to play first-person shooter (FPS) multiplayer game, is now available for everyone using the Linux Steam client , an...

+ Read more »

How To Use Multiple Monitors In Xubuntu / Xfce (Extended Display Instead Of Mirror)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multimonitor-setup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="xubuntu dual screen" border="0" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multimonitor-setup_thumb.png" title="xubuntu dual screen" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In multi monitors setups, Xubuntu / Xfce clones (mirrors) instead of expanding the display to the external monitor. So here are two ways of getting proper multi monitor support in Xfce / Xubuntu.</b></div><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><h2>I. Xubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04 only: use the Xfce 4.12 PPA to get proper multi-monitor support</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Xfce 4.11 (Xubuntu 13.04 and 12.10 use Xfce 4.10 by default) has implemented support for extended desktop mode, so <b>using the Xfce 4.12 PPA in Xubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04</b> (this is a development PPA which provides some development packages), <b>you'll get proper multi-monitor support by default.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Using this PPA, in the Xfce Settings Manager, under "Display", you can select the position of each monitor (left of, right of, below, above or the same), and if you want to mirror the displays or not:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-xfce-multi-monitor.png"><img alt="Xubuntu multi monitor display settings" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-xfce-multi-monitor_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>To add the PPA and upgrade these packages in Xubuntu 12.10 or 12.04, use the commands below:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.12<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once the packages have been successfully upgraded, open the Settins Manager, and under "Display", <b>uncheck the "Mirror displays" option to extend your display to the external monitor(s)</b>, then select the displays position, etc.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />There's also a minimal display dialog (thanks to Simon Steinbeiss for the tip!) you can use once you've added the above PPA, in case you need to quickly change monitor settings, which you can run using the following command (you can create a shortcut for it if you often change your monitor layout, .e.g. when using a laptop with external monitors):</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>xfce4-display-settings -m</code></pre><br />Here's what you'll get:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xfce-mini-displays.png"><img alt="Xfce mini display settings" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xfce-mini-displays_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>II. Any Xubuntu / Xfce version: Use Arandr to extend the display instead of cloning (mirror) it</h2><br /><b>1.</b> Install Arandr, a simple GUI for XRandR:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install arandr</code></pre><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2.</b> Then, open Arandr and move the monitors to the desired position using drag and drop:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/arandr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/arandr_thumb.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><i>By default, the monitors might be displayed one above the other, so drag the first one to be able to see both of them.</i><br /><br />When you're done, select <i>Layout > Apply</i>. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3.</b> The changes are not saved and will be lost once you logout / restart the computer so to make them permanent, from the Arandr menu select <i>Layout > Save As</i>, enter a name for this layout and save it.</div><br />This creates a script under <i>~/.screenlayout</i> using the name you've used above (unless you've selected a different path).<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4.</b> Add this script to your startup items: <i>Session and Startup > Applications Autostart</i> - click "Add", under "Name" enter whatever you want and under "Command", enter the exact path to the script created under step 3 and you're done:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multiscreen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multiscreen_thumb.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Your Xubuntu computer's display should now be extended to the external monitor(s), instead of using the default clone (mirror) option, each time you log in.</div>

How To Use Multiple Monitors In Xubuntu / Xfce (Extended Display Instead Of Mirror)

In multi monitors setups, Xubuntu / Xfce clones (mirrors) instead of expanding the display to the external monitor. So here are two ways of ...

+ Read more »

How To Use Netflix In Ubuntu Through Wine (PPA Available)

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Netflix is finally working on Linux! No, there's no native Linux Netflix application, but with a patched Wine build, you can now use Netflix under Linux.</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Netflix on Ubuntu" href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" rel="image_group"><img alt="netflix ubuntu" border="0" height="180" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu_thumb.jpg" title="netflix ubuntu" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Thanks to a campaign by <a href="http://www.iheartubuntu.com/">IHeartUbuntu</a> to get Netflix running on Ubuntu and the work of Erich Hoover, Ubuntu users can now use Netflix through Wine (with some patches) and Microsoft Silverlight, all installable from a PPA.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>For those who are not familiar with <a href="https://netflix.com/" rel="nofollow">Netflix</a>, this is an on-demand TV shows & movies streaming service available in USA, Canada, South America, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Danmark, Norway and Finland.</i></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Netflix Desktop application (with patched Wine) in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Netflix on Ubuntu" rel="image_group" href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="netflix ubuntu" border="0" height="200" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu-1_thumb.png" title="netflix ubuntu" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I like to test everything I post, but <b>since Netflix is not available where I live, I was unable to test this</b>. Hopefully it will work for you using the instructions below.</div><br /><b>To add the PPA and install the patched WINE and everything required to use Netflix in Ubuntu Raring, Quantal, Precise or Oneiric, use the commands below:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The commands above will install a patched WINE which doesn't overwrite your current Wine installation, along with a Netflix web app that automatically downloads and installs Firefox for Windows and Microsoft Silverlight. The Netflix app is available for both 32bit and 64bit while the patched Wine package is only available for 32bit, but it should work on 64bit thanks to Ubuntu's multi-arch support.</div><br /><b>If you get the following error on 64bit: </b><br /><pre class="source-code"><code>netflix-desktop : Depends: wine-compholio (> 1.5.16) but it is not installable</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">make sure the universe, multiverse and restricted repositories are enabled via Software Sources (on the first tab). To open Software Sources in Ubuntu 12.10, go to <i>System Settings > Software Sources</i> or, in Ubuntu 12.04 or older, you can access it via Ubuntu <i>Software Center > Edit menu > Software Sources</i>. Then run an "sudo apt-get update" and try to install netflix-desktop again and it <a href="http://i.imgur.com/63LAA.png" rel="nofollow">should work</a>.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Once installed, you can launch the Netflix Desktop web app through Dash / the menu</b>. By default, the application runs in full screen but you can exit full screen mode by pressing F11.</div><br /><br /><h2>Using Netflix Desktop app & patched Wine in other Linux distributions</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For other Linux distributions</b>: to get Netflix to work, see the instructions available @ <a href="http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/netflix-on-ubuntu-is-here.html">iheartubuntu.com</a> and <a href="http://www.compholio.com/wine-compholio/">compholio.com</a> (use the patches from compholio!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fuduntu users: the patched Wine is <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/113644080780903084842/posts/UzD5cXDgirn">already available</a> in the Fuduntu repositories, so all you have to do is install Firefox for Windows and Microsoft Silverlight to be able to use Netflix.<br /><br />For <b>Arch Linux</b>, Netflix Desktop can be installed via <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/netflix-desktop/">AUR</a>.</div><br /><br /><h2>Using the custom Netflix Wine build for other websites that require Silverlight</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Silverlight in Firefox under Wine" rel="image_group" href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/firefox-wine-silverlight-ubuntu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="firefox ubuntu silverlight" border="0" height="168" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/firefox-wine-silverlight-ubuntu_thumb.png" title="firefox ubuntu silverlight" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Tip: since the Netflix Desktop web app comes with just a window titlebar (no menu, tabs, address bar, etc.), if you want to use this custom Wine build with other websites that require the Microsoft Silverlight plugin, launch Firefox for Windows (Wine) from the newly created desktop shortcut. Or, to launch it from Unity's Dash, search for "Mozilla Firefox" (the native Firefox application for Linux should show up as "Mozilla Firefox Browser" so the names are not identical).<br /><br />Alternatively, in the Netflix Desktop web app, you can use F11 (to exit full screen), then press ALT + V and from the <i>View > Toolbar</i> menu, enable the Menu Bar and Navigation Toolbar.</div><br /><b>Update:</b> the Netflix Desktop app for Ubuntu has a Launchpad page now, so if you encounter bugs, report them @ <a href="http://bugs.launchpad.net/netflix-desktop">http://bugs.launchpad.net/netflix-desktop</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>thanks to <a href="http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-desktop-app.html">iheartubuntu.com</a> for the info and screenshots</i></div>

How To Use Netflix In Ubuntu Through Wine (PPA Available)

Netflix is finally working on Linux! No, there's no native Linux Netflix application, but with a patched Wine build, you can now use Net...

+ Read more »