We'll I just tried Gnome 3 on Ubuntu 11.04 and I have mixed thoughts on it. Some good thoughts but mostly disappointed thoughts on my Gnome 3/Ubuntu 11.04 experience. It took some effort to get Gnome 3 to install in Ubuntu 11.04. It would not install with out adding a Gnome 3 ppa installed and if I tried without the ppa it would come up with a broken package error.
So when I finally got it installed it worked great when I got it to finally to install. I found the interface a lot more user friendly then Unity and found there more you could do with the desktop. There is a lot of similarities to the Unity interface with the left side bar for your programs. The ability to be able to use multiple desktops easier. I was not able to do a full test of Gnome 3 because of the major issue so I can not highlight all the positives.
Then everything went down hill my mouse froze as I was in a game to test out how well it works. My keyboard was working but my mouse would not work and I could not back out of the game so I had to reset the computer. After the computer reset I tried to load Gnome 3 again it would not load. The background would load up and a couple of programs I had to start up in background would load. But that was it nothing else would load. So I tried Ubuntu Classics and that would not load because Gnome 3 update Gnome 2.32.1 to 3.X. Also Unity would not load up I am not sure why that is. I did not have any other desktop interface installed like KDE or XFCE. So the only thing I could do was to reinstall the Ubuntu operating system. At least it only took me under fifteen minutes to reinstall the operating system.
I am not sure why this has happened, as of right now I will not be trying Gnome 3 again for some time. From what I read Gnome 3 will be out in 11.10 by default along with Unity. Right now other Linux distro's like Fedora in there up and coming version 15 will have Gnome 3 as there default desktop. Right now at least till 11.10 I would recommended Gnome 3. Ubuntu users should stick with Unity or Classic. Even with the slick desktop that Gnome 3 there is no guarantee that it will not crash on you and you will have to reinstall your operating system.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Ubuntu 11.04 Released Today
We'll the new Ubuntu 11.04 operating system has been released today. This also means that I have updated the test computer to full version of Ubuntu 11.04 from beta. There are a lot of major changes that has gone into the new version of Ubuntu.
The first major change is the fact that they got rid of Gnome as the default desktop. Canonical (the makers of Ubuntu) decided to make there own desktop called Unity as the default desktop. There is still a version of Gnome in the list of desktop's you can choose from called Ubuntu Classics. But from what I have read on-line with version 11.10 Canonical will get rid of that option. Now you are still able to install what ever desktop you want and with Gnome 3 out you can install that one if you want as well. I have not tried out Gnome 3 yet but I may try it out down the road. Another major change would be on how the installer for Ubuntu 11.04 works. The installer is very sleek and is very user friendly to new and veteran users. Also if you have a internet connection you can download important updates while Ubuntu is installing. These updates are important for new people to start using Ubuntu 11.04 right away. The next major change they did was to get rid of Rhythmbox as the default media player and put in Banshee in it's place. They have also taken out OpenOffice as the default office suite and put in LibreOffice. From what I have read the reason for the office change is because of the fact that LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice. LibreOffice is also being supported more in the open community. Also Firefox has also been updated to 4.0 as the default web browser. They have also got rid of the Netbook Edition so you will have to use 11.04 on your netbook now. There is no real difference from the feel and look of the Netbook Edition to 11.04 since the Netbook Edtion was using a version of Unity.
With all the changes I find that this update to the Ubuntu operating system is a very much welcomed and needed. Kubuntu another spin off of Ubuntu has released there 11.04 update as well today. With Xubuntu another spin off of Ubuntu will be bringing out there 11.04 update very soon. I would give Ubuntu 11.04 10 out of 10. If you are wanting to upgrade from any earlier version press Alt and F2 then type update-manager -d. Your update manager will open up and there will be a option there for upgrading to the new version. If you are looking to download Ubuntu you can go here Ubuntu and remember there is no cost for this operating system.
The first major change is the fact that they got rid of Gnome as the default desktop. Canonical (the makers of Ubuntu) decided to make there own desktop called Unity as the default desktop. There is still a version of Gnome in the list of desktop's you can choose from called Ubuntu Classics. But from what I have read on-line with version 11.10 Canonical will get rid of that option. Now you are still able to install what ever desktop you want and with Gnome 3 out you can install that one if you want as well. I have not tried out Gnome 3 yet but I may try it out down the road. Another major change would be on how the installer for Ubuntu 11.04 works. The installer is very sleek and is very user friendly to new and veteran users. Also if you have a internet connection you can download important updates while Ubuntu is installing. These updates are important for new people to start using Ubuntu 11.04 right away. The next major change they did was to get rid of Rhythmbox as the default media player and put in Banshee in it's place. They have also taken out OpenOffice as the default office suite and put in LibreOffice. From what I have read the reason for the office change is because of the fact that LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice. LibreOffice is also being supported more in the open community. Also Firefox has also been updated to 4.0 as the default web browser. They have also got rid of the Netbook Edition so you will have to use 11.04 on your netbook now. There is no real difference from the feel and look of the Netbook Edition to 11.04 since the Netbook Edtion was using a version of Unity.
With all the changes I find that this update to the Ubuntu operating system is a very much welcomed and needed. Kubuntu another spin off of Ubuntu has released there 11.04 update as well today. With Xubuntu another spin off of Ubuntu will be bringing out there 11.04 update very soon. I would give Ubuntu 11.04 10 out of 10. If you are wanting to upgrade from any earlier version press Alt and F2 then type update-manager -d. Your update manager will open up and there will be a option there for upgrading to the new version. If you are looking to download Ubuntu you can go here Ubuntu and remember there is no cost for this operating system.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
New Humble Bundle (Frozenbyte) Update #6
We'll the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle has ended with $909,849.56 in sales and 183,193 copies sold. As it stands linux users have spent the most on average $11.82, Mac users $6.42 and Windows users $3.91. Also as it stands Windows users bought the most copies with Linux users and Mac users next. On the Huble Bundle website you will be able to download your games for sometime and also sign up for future humble bundle news.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Trine
I am going to take a look at the game Trine another game from the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle. Remember that this game is tested on Ubuntu so it does not one hundred percent reflect any other platform that this game maybe on. I am reviewing this game next because of how different this game is compared to the other games in the bundle.
First off this game is a full side scroller game with not a lot of cut scene, they are focusing on game play here. The only cut scene they have in the game are during loading times between levels.
Now for some information on the back story and what is going on in the game. You are set in a medieval kingdom and evil has taken over the entire kingdom. You either pay as a thief, knight or magician that has been trapped in a magic orb. The only way to get free of this orb is to make it to the end and free the kingdom of the evil.
Now for all the good points of the game and why this game is Frozenbyte best game out of all the games in the bundle. Installation of the game went very well, the install put a shortcut onto the desktop and games menu. A lot of games that run on Linux that are cross distro (different Linux companies) do not even do this. The graphics for the cut scene and game play were maybe the best I have ever seen in a long time. You could tell they put a lot of effort into the graphics. The background had just as much going on as the foreground did. The soundtrack also worked very well for each level and did not over power what was going on in game. There was also very strong voice acting in the game and cut scene. The controllers were also very solid I had no issues with the controls randomly freezing. The game also had multi player action but no online multi player. From what I have read they are looking to put online multi player in Trine 2. From what I am told Trine is Nvidia 3D Vision compatible but for only Windows users right now. I am told this issue is a Nvidia driver issue and it looks like there will be drivers out soon.
Now I am going to go over the bad parts of the game because there is not a lot of bad points. For the game play itself when you would walk on a trap to open a door your character freezes but enemies or other items can hurt you or kill you. I find this frustrating when your frozen from a door opening and a big spike ball is coming at you. But this does not happen that much through out the game and you can work around this issue. The next issue and it's not with the game but what should come with it is a level editor. I am aware that there is one for Windows versions but there should been one for Mac and Linux users.
With all the small bad points in the game I would give this 9.5 out of 10. If it was not for the small issues in this game it would be a 10 out of 10 game. Now with one of these issues (level editor) I do know it is a Linux related issue. But the other one I am not sure if it is Linux related or not. Either way I can not wait for Trine 2 to be released in the next few months. You can find the game here Frozenbyte and as of this writing the game cost $19.99.
First off this game is a full side scroller game with not a lot of cut scene, they are focusing on game play here. The only cut scene they have in the game are during loading times between levels.
Now for some information on the back story and what is going on in the game. You are set in a medieval kingdom and evil has taken over the entire kingdom. You either pay as a thief, knight or magician that has been trapped in a magic orb. The only way to get free of this orb is to make it to the end and free the kingdom of the evil.
Now for all the good points of the game and why this game is Frozenbyte best game out of all the games in the bundle. Installation of the game went very well, the install put a shortcut onto the desktop and games menu. A lot of games that run on Linux that are cross distro (different Linux companies) do not even do this. The graphics for the cut scene and game play were maybe the best I have ever seen in a long time. You could tell they put a lot of effort into the graphics. The background had just as much going on as the foreground did. The soundtrack also worked very well for each level and did not over power what was going on in game. There was also very strong voice acting in the game and cut scene. The controllers were also very solid I had no issues with the controls randomly freezing. The game also had multi player action but no online multi player. From what I have read they are looking to put online multi player in Trine 2. From what I am told Trine is Nvidia 3D Vision compatible but for only Windows users right now. I am told this issue is a Nvidia driver issue and it looks like there will be drivers out soon.
Now I am going to go over the bad parts of the game because there is not a lot of bad points. For the game play itself when you would walk on a trap to open a door your character freezes but enemies or other items can hurt you or kill you. I find this frustrating when your frozen from a door opening and a big spike ball is coming at you. But this does not happen that much through out the game and you can work around this issue. The next issue and it's not with the game but what should come with it is a level editor. I am aware that there is one for Windows versions but there should been one for Mac and Linux users.
With all the small bad points in the game I would give this 9.5 out of 10. If it was not for the small issues in this game it would be a 10 out of 10 game. Now with one of these issues (level editor) I do know it is a Linux related issue. But the other one I am not sure if it is Linux related or not. Either way I can not wait for Trine 2 to be released in the next few months. You can find the game here Frozenbyte and as of this writing the game cost $19.99.
Friday, 22 April 2011
New Humble Bundle (Frozenbyte) Update #5
It looks like Frozenbyte has made some big news for there games. First they have released the source code for Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor. They have also put out a level editor for Trine it is only out for Windows not Mac or Linux. They also have a sneak peak for the game splot in a flash game demo. There is also talk that there maybe a release of Jack Claw for Linux in the next few weeks.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
New Humble Bundle (Frozenbyte) Update #4
With the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle more then have way over the bundle has hit over 143K copies sold with over 713K dollars made from the bundle. Windows users are still leading with number of copies sold with Linux and Mac right behind them. Linux users are still spending more per copy then Windows or Mac users. You still have a little over 5 days left to get your self a copy of the bundle. Remember if you own a copy already you can still gift a copy to friends or family.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Shadowgrounds
We'll now that I have had the bundle for a few days now I thought I would first take a look at the game Shadowgrounds. Remember that this game is tested on Ubuntu so it does not one hundred percent reflect any other platform that this game is on.
The game is a 3D top down shooter for your in game play. I am going to take a look at some of the back story for the game. The game is set on a moon that orbits Jupiter in the distant future. There is a large colony that is setup on the moon. Then there is a alien attack that wipes out most of the population on the planet. You play as a maintenance worker that is in the colony that survives the initial attack. You have to go around helping other people out to get off the planet. You will uses different weapons that you can upgrade and tools along your way to help you out.
Now I am going to start of with the good points of the game. The installation of the game went very well, the install put a shortcut onto the desktop and games menu. A lot of games that run on Linux that are cross distro (different Linux companies) do not even do this. The in game graphics were really top notch with a lot of proper lighting effects. The enemies and environment were really well done as well.
Now for the issues that hurt what could have been a really solid game. The first issue was with the in game controls. There was a few times that I would be running away from aliens and I could not move. It was not like I was stuck on a item this was a wide open area that I was stuck for a few seconds. I found this to be a issue when you were trying to deal with all a lot of aliens at once. Another issue was in the cut scene that they had in the game. There was quite a few times that you hear them talk then the talking would stop but the text on the screen would change. It was like they forgot to record that part of the conversation. There was also random music that would start playing in parts of the game. This hurt for the fact that when they started talking you could not hear them over the music that was playing. The type of music they used also did not sound right when it came to what was going on in the game. The game would be a lot better of if the music was not in it.
Still for all the issues I give this game a score of 5.5 out of 10. The amount of issues that the game has I really felt it really took you out of the game when these issues happened. Now with these issues I am not sure if they are only Linux related or other platform related. If these issues were solved when the game came out to the bundle I would have had no problems giving it a higher score. I will be taking a look at the other games in the near future. You can find the game here Frozenbyte and as of this writing the game cost $9.99 to $40.00 depends on were you buy the game from.
The game is a 3D top down shooter for your in game play. I am going to take a look at some of the back story for the game. The game is set on a moon that orbits Jupiter in the distant future. There is a large colony that is setup on the moon. Then there is a alien attack that wipes out most of the population on the planet. You play as a maintenance worker that is in the colony that survives the initial attack. You have to go around helping other people out to get off the planet. You will uses different weapons that you can upgrade and tools along your way to help you out.
Now I am going to start of with the good points of the game. The installation of the game went very well, the install put a shortcut onto the desktop and games menu. A lot of games that run on Linux that are cross distro (different Linux companies) do not even do this. The in game graphics were really top notch with a lot of proper lighting effects. The enemies and environment were really well done as well.
Now for the issues that hurt what could have been a really solid game. The first issue was with the in game controls. There was a few times that I would be running away from aliens and I could not move. It was not like I was stuck on a item this was a wide open area that I was stuck for a few seconds. I found this to be a issue when you were trying to deal with all a lot of aliens at once. Another issue was in the cut scene that they had in the game. There was quite a few times that you hear them talk then the talking would stop but the text on the screen would change. It was like they forgot to record that part of the conversation. There was also random music that would start playing in parts of the game. This hurt for the fact that when they started talking you could not hear them over the music that was playing. The type of music they used also did not sound right when it came to what was going on in the game. The game would be a lot better of if the music was not in it.
Still for all the issues I give this game a score of 5.5 out of 10. The amount of issues that the game has I really felt it really took you out of the game when these issues happened. Now with these issues I am not sure if they are only Linux related or other platform related. If these issues were solved when the game came out to the bundle I would have had no problems giving it a higher score. I will be taking a look at the other games in the near future. You can find the game here Frozenbyte and as of this writing the game cost $9.99 to $40.00 depends on were you buy the game from.
 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)