Otter BOX Defender Series Case Vs A Normal Case

After purchasing an Otter BOX defender Series case for my BlackBerry Curve 8520 I've got to say it's well worth the money as it feels a lot stronger than the generic Hard case that I bought.

The clear cover that goes over the keypad protects it from getting dirty and bits getting in to the phone through the keypad, The Hard shell feels a lot stronger than the the generic hard case that I was using previously and I like the clear protector that goes over the camera lens to protect it from getting scratched and the silicone outer skin is a lot stronger than a normal form fitting silicone skin and I like how their is a flap that covers the Micro USB port and the headset socket to protect them from letting dust into the phone.  The only open parts of the case are just the microphone on the bottom of the case and the speaker on the top of the case as well as the handset speaker for non headset or speaker phone calls.  The provided belt clip holster is a nice addition to the package as the Otter BOX makes the phone very bulky and heavy.  The plus point of having a heavier and bulkier phone is that you are less likely to drop the phone compared to an un protected Curve as they are very light.

Roland

My move from Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition to Windows 7 Ultimate Edition

After suffering technical issues with the Release Candidate of Ubuntu Maverick MeerkatNetbook Edition I decided not to Download the final version and instead decided to go back to Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.

As Windows 7 supports all of my hardware except my Umax Scanner  it made more sence to go back to Windows instead of staying with Linux, especially as it takes less messing about to geteverything working correctly and seems to suffer less glitches in rebooting, shuttingdown etc.  Ubuntu would sometimes refuse to shutdown, reboot or hibanate but instead log me out and I'd have to hold the power button down to power off.

Roland

Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Unity Netbook Desktop Bug

I've discovered a bug in the Unity Desktop of Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat.

I don't know if this is related to it still currently being a Release Candidate or whether it's a general bug in Unity, but when I logged into the Unity Desktop this morning I had an error saying no Driver found use the Desktop Edition when logging in.  A quick re-boot solved the problem, will let you know if this bug goes away in the final release or whether it's still there in a later post after I have upgraded to the final release on Sunday.

Roland

Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Desktop Edition vs Netbook Edition

After trying out the Release Candidate of both the Netbook Edition and Desktop Edition of Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat I've come to the conclusion that my favorite Edition has got to be the Netbook Edition as it's the only Edition that has brought anything new with the cool Unity Desktop.  I can't comment on the other Ubuntu flavors such as KUbuntu, XUbuntu, MythBuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Edubuntu, LUbuntu and Ubuntu Server as I've not tried these versions.

I'll report more on Maverick Meerkat once it is officially released and I've upgraded my Netbook to the official release, but so far it's looking to be in my eye the best Netbook Edition that I've tried.  The Desktop Edition needs Overhauling before I'd consider ditching the Unity Desktop for the standard Gnome Desktop though.

Roland

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Desktop Edition vs Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Desktop Edition

After Installing the Release Candidate of Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition  yesterday I thought I'd login to the regular Desktop and compare it with the Desktop Edition of Lucid Lynx and the only thing that has changed in this release to the previous release is that the clock is the new clock with the pop down calendar when you left click on it.  The Connection manager still uses the old graphic and the volume control is the old style modern looking on that is present in the previous release and not the old blocky volume control that is in the Unity Netbook Desktop.

Roland

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition Release Candidate

Here are my findings after installing the release candidate of Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition as outlined in this post.

Network Manager has been given an overhaul and is now more like the signal strength meter of a cell phone when using Wireless and Mobile Broadband (don't know what it looks like when using a wired Network Connection, the Volume control has lost its cool visual appeal but that could be due to it only being a release candidate at the moment. The clock has had a major overhaul and now contains a drop down calendar when you left click on it.

The Ubuntu Menu has had an overhaul compared to the beta version that I installed in Lucid Lynx. it now has a more visual front page that takes you to the full menu if the option you click on contains more than one program.  The full Ubuntu menu is reached by clicking on the Applications option on the Launcher.

You are now no longer restricted to the Unity desktop when you install the Netbook Edition of Maverick Meerkat as you also have the option to login to the full Desktop Edition from the login screen compared to Lucid Lynx that was restricted to the Moblin Desktop unless you had installed another Desktop.

You Ideally need an always on Broadband connection that you can connect to by a wired modem, wired modem with wireless router if you have Cable Internet or a combined wireless modem router, 2.5GB of free HDD space and be plugged into the mains via your charger, you have the option to download updates and 3rd party applications during the install ( I declined these options as I'm going to upgrade to the official release once it comes out on Sunday).  The instal takes slightly longer than with Lucid Lynx but it is nowhere as near as long as  OpenSuse 11.3 or Windows.

Roland

The New Unity Desktop Beta vs The Moblin Desktop in Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition

When you Install the Unity Desktop Beta onto a Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition system it Installs side by side with the default Moblin Desktop and you select which one that you want to login to on the login screen, The 10.04 Netbook Desktop is the default one though.

Once the Unity Desktop is loaded up it looks similar to the default Netbook Desktop with the Panel on the top of the screen showing the Left to Right: Ubuntu Menu, Network Manager, Battery Indicator, Sound preference, Mail and Broadcast Message, Time, Social Networking Menu and Session Menu.

When you click on the Ubuntu Menu you now get a drop down menu with Search feature instead of the show Desktop action in the old Desktop.

The Side Bar/Desktop has been cleaned up significantly since 10.04.  Instead of having a tabbed Desktop you have a sliding side bar that houses your favourite programs, Trash can and quick access to the Programs and Files and folders.  There is also access to a Mac OSX feature that shows all your open windows as thumbnails.

As this is only a Beta version of the Unity Desktop and running on top of Ubuntu 10.04LTS Lucid Lynx and no 10.10 Maverick Meerkat it doesn't have all the updates that 10.10 will contain.  If I can get hold of a disk Image of the Pre Release version of 10.10 Netbook Edition I'll download it and give it a try.  In the meantime here is a rundown of all the new features of the different Editions of Ubuntu 10.10.

For more on the Unity Desktop please visit this Blog.

Roland