Help: Ubuntu! Video: How to Use AWN in Ubuntu 11.04

Our latest video is up and running.  In this video we will cover how to use AWN (Avant Window Manager) as a dockbar.  I will be running AWN from with Ubuntu 11.04 using the Ubuntu Classic desktop environment.

Why would you want to use AWN in the first place, we have Unity now?
Simple, Unity is kind of heavy on the resource side of things.  I have ran it on a few physical machines (older hardware) and on several virtual machines (using VirtualBox).  And in every case (except for my newer desktop PC) it caused the system to take a little longer to load, and in some cases even to use for daily/simple tasks.  I like the idea of using a dockbar.  Especially to mess with my friends who are Apple fans because with a dock and the right theme, it's extremely easy to get that 'Mac' look to the desktop.  Plus, it's just fun to play around with some extra customization.  Whereas, with Unity what you see if what you get with it.

Themes are pretty easy to find for AWN, and they are incredibly easy to install and use.  Plus, you can move the dockbar around the screen and you pretty much have a really simple way to add or take away applets from the dock with very little trouble.  And it's pretty stable as well, so there isn't as much of a worry about hanging up or crashing.

As always, be sure to swing by my YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/techiesmarts
There we have more videos and will be continuing our Help Ubuntu! video series for folks who may be new to Ubuntu or Linux in general.  Our next video will focus on some of the software included in the base install of Ubuntu and certain settings within them that will help ease some transition pains for new Ubuntu users.

Also find us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/techiesmarts
And our Facebook Page: TechieSmarts on Facebook! http://on.fb.me/qwpd4i







If you decide that the AWN dockbar isn't to your liking, and you want to reset your GNOME panel back to default (after a GNOME panel) than the following commands are used in this video to reset GNOME:

Open Terminal and type (after each line hit the Enter key):
gconftool-2 --recursive-unset /apps/panel
rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel
pkill gnome-panel

And that should reset it for you.

Happy Surfing!

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Our latest video has gone live, be sure to check it out: "Help Ubuntu!-Video Series: Customizing Ubuntu Pt.1"!

In this video we will cover how to setup Gwibber; so you can let it do the hard work in keeping you updated on what is happening on your Social Networking sites (Twitter and Facebook).  We also cover how to install packages (in my case I will install Google's Chrome Web Browser), and we cover installing and using Ubuntu Tweak.

Ubuntu Tweak is a great tool for new Ubuntu user's because it includes pretty much every setting you'd ever want access to all within a single location.  From changing desktop settings, and login screen options.  All the way down to installing packages and even editing the Source Code (if that is your cup of tea).





And as always, be sure to visit my YouTube Channel and 'Like' the video and Subscribe so you stay updated on the latest videos when they go live!

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TechieSmarts on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TechieSmarts
Also, find me on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/techiesmarts
And be sure to 'Like' our Facebook Fan Page as well: http://on.fb.me/qwpd4i

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Happy Surfing!

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Video Coming Tomorrow!

Apologies for the short delay of our latest Ubuntu Video.  It will be making it's way live tomorrow.  I believe we are looking at a video release schedule of Tuesday's and Thursday's moving forward.  So look for a step by step guide tomorrow for switching from Unity to either Unity 2D or Ubuntu Classic in 11.04!

Happy Surfing!

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Help!: Ubuntu Video Series- Installing Ubuntu 11.04 Using Virtual Box

As part of our video series on Ubuntu Help we continue with a video guiding us through the Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty' release.  We will be using Virtual Box to install this as a Guest Operating System (Guest OS) within Windows XP (in my case).

If you missed our previous video on setting up the Virtual Hard Drive (Virtual Drive Image File) to use when installing the operating system be sure to check it out first:  http://youtu.be/YhQeSIJ4hec






As always, be sure to swing by our YouTube Channel and Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/user/TechieSmarts

Our next video will cover how to install Unity 2D or set Ubuntu Classic as the default desktop.

Happy Surfing!

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First Ubuntu Video: Adding a Menu Item to the Ubuntu Menu

Here is the first of my Help!: Ubuntu Video Series.  This video covers how to add a Menu Item to the Ubuntu Menu.  I am running Ubuntu 11.04 in Ubuntu Classic desktop mode.  (I'm not a big fan of Unity).  In this video I will be adding a menu item/launcher to the Office Menu for OpenOffice.

As always, checkout my YouTube Channel for more videos (and more coming soon)!









The next video should be up within the next day or so covering a quick introduction to Unity.
Happy Surfing!

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