Make Your Linux Desktop Look Like a Mac

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Linux only: Want the look and feel of a Mac without paying the high-end design premium? Tired of hearing from all your Mac-happy friends how awesome Leopard looks? Got time to run through six pages of instructions? Then HowTo Forge has got you covered. Their guide to making a nearly total theme conversion requires Compiz Fusion (installed by default on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon), Awn and the patience to download and place a hefty handful of files, but everything seems to be covered, right down to the system sounds. The guide is written for GNOME-based Linux systems and requires a number of downloads, some of which might not pass the most stringent legal (or open source) tests but are otherwise free. I haven’t tried it myself, but this weekend’s another story.

Micromanage Your Widescreen Monitor with AutoSizer

autosize.pngWindows only: Freeware application AutoSizer automatically resizes and moves application windows to specific, user-defined sizes and screen locations as soon as they’re opened. That means that if you’ve got a widescreen monitor with the perfect window layout that packs every last pixel with useful information, you can save each window size and location with AutoSizer and restore the perfect layout automatically, day after day, as soon as you launch the applications. Alternately, if you’d prefer an application to open maximized or minimized, AutoSizer can take care of that, too. AutoSizer is freeware, Windows only. For similar but manual takes on screen real estate maximization, check out Sizer and WinSplit Revolution.

Dell Products Headed For Staples Retail Stores

In a break from Dell’s traditional mail order biz, an agreement reached today with the Staples retail chain will bring Dell brand notebooks, desktops, monitors, printers, and ink to over 1400 Staples stores across the U.S. Initially Staples will carry Inspiron 1721 and 1521 notebooks, Inspiron 530 desktops, 948 and 926 All-in-one printers, the 1320c laser printer, the Dell SE198WFP 19-inch LCD, E228WFP 22-inch LCD, and most types of Dell brand ink and toner with more products to be added over time. A similar agreement was signed with Wal-Mart earlier this year, making this the second time Dell has partnered with a major US retailer and the first time it has scored a 3-way.[Staples via i4u]

I guess now I can go to Staples and buy a Dell if I wanted to!! I wonder if they are also going to be a support center for Dell?

eMachines announces new low-cost desktops for the holidays

eMachines looks to be trying to make its already budget-priced desktops even more attractive to consumers this holiday season, with it today introducing a pair of models that it says strike just the right balance between performance and value. The most affordable of the pair is the company’s T3626 desktop (a slight variation on the T3616), which starts at just $350 after a $50 mail-in rebate. For that price you’ll get a 2.2GHz AMD Sempron 3800+ processor, along with NVIDIA GeForce 6100 graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a DVD burner, among other standard specs. Taking things up a notch, the $435 (again, after a $50 rebate) T5234 model packs a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ processor, along with slightly beefer NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and that same DVD burner. According to eMachines, both should be available at all the usual locations immediately.

This isn’t half bad for the holidays get a new system and at a pretty good speed and hard drive space!! I think I want one now!!