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Alternative Windows Media Players
Alternative Windows Media Players
Windows Media Player is one of the best software available which comes as default, when you bring up a new Windows operating system for all versions including Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows 98. Microsoft has provided its default media player for running audio and video. Most people use it, but there some who are dissatisfied with it.
So today we bring you some of the best alternatives to Windows Media Player which can be downloaded for free and at absolutely no cost.
1.VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is completely free and open source Media Player along with excellent multimedia framework. It is a cross-platform multimedia player providing variety of independent Platform version for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, GNU, Linux, BeOS, MorphOS, BSD, Solaris, iOS and eComStation. 
The Media Player toolbar is customizable so that you can decide what buttons are to be shown while listening to music or watching video. It offers a wide variety range of audio and video formats including OGG, MP2, MP3, MP4, DivX, along with HD Codecs like AES3, Raw Dirac, etc.
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9 Recommended Things to do After Installing Ubuntu 17.10
Last updated By
Brief: Here are the essential things to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10 in order to give yourself a better and smoother experience after the fresh installation of Ubuntu 17.10.
Ubuntu 17.10 has been released. By now, you might have seen the new features in Ubuntu 17.10 and I recommend you should also start looking at Ubuntu 18.04 release date. If you are giving 17.10 a try with a fresh installation, here are a few things to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10 that will make your experience with Ubuntu better.
If you are a new Ubuntu user, I also recommend reading this getting started with Ubuntu guide that will help you to understand Ubuntu and use it easily.
Things to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10
Just to be clear, what to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10 depends upon you, the user. If you are into graphic design, you’ll want to install plenty of Linux graphics tools. If you are into Linux gaming, you might look for more Linux games and configure your graphics card for that. If you are into programming, you would want to install programming tools, editors, IDEs etc.
This list is a generic list of things that should be useful for most users if not all. The steps mentioned here are surely helpful to most new Ubuntu users.
I have created a video so that it will be easier for you to see these steps in action. Do subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Ubuntu and Linux videos.
So, let’s begin with the written list of things to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10:
1. Update your system
Whenever you do a fresh installation of Ubuntu, update the system. It may sound strange because you just installed a fresh OS but still, you must run the updater.
It has been my experience that if you don’t update the system right after installing Ubuntu, you might face issues while trying to install a new program. You may even see fewer applications to install.
To update your system, press Super Key (Windows Key) to launch the Activity Overview and look for Software Updater. Run this program. It will look for available updates. Install them.
Alternatively, you can use the following command in the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade2. Enable Canonical Partner repositories
Another must do thing is to enable Canonical Partner repositories. Ubuntu has a variety of software available from its repositories. You can find it in the Software Center.
But you get even more software in the Software Center if you enable the Canonical Partner repositories. This additional repository consists of third-party software, often proprietary stuff, that have been tested by Ubuntu.
Go to Activity Overview by pressing Super Key (Windows key), and look for Software & Updates:
Open it and under the Other Software tab, check the option of Canonical Partners.
It will ask for your password and update the software sources. Once it completes, you’ll find more applications to install in the Software Center.
3. Install media codecs
By default, Ubuntu doesn’t provide a number of media codecs because of copyright issues. But it does provide an easy way to install these media codecs so that you could play MP3, MPEG4, AVI and a number of other media files.
You can install these media codecs thanks to Ubuntu Restricted Extra package. Click on the link below to install it from the Software Center.
Switch to Xorg from Wayland in Ubuntu 17.10
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One of the main new features in Ubuntu 17.10 is the addition of Wayland as the default display server. As more and more Linux distributions are moving away from the legacy X.Org server and Wayland seems to be the top alternative.
While Wayland maybe the future, it really is in future. At least for Ubuntu 17.10. The issue here is that a number of Linux desktop applications still depend on X.Org. They don’t support Wayland very well.
For example, I had a hard time trying to record screen in Ubuntu 17.10. Apart from Green Recorder, none of the other Linux screen recorders worked.
This spoils the otherwise pleasant Ubuntu 17.10 experience. So what would be the solution here? Wait for all those applications to work with Wayland?
An easier way out would be to switch back to Xorg from Wayland. And I am going to show you how to do that in this quick tip.
Switch to Xorg from Wayland
Remember that I said Wayland is the default display server in Ubuntu 17.10. It also means that there are more than one display servers available. And we can simply switch between them. No need to install anything new.
In Ubuntu 17.10, restart your system. At the login screen, under the password field, you’ll see a gear icon. Just click on it and you’ll see two options here.
The default Ubuntu means it will be using Wayland while Ubuntu on Xorg obviously means it will use Xorg. You can select Ubuntu on Xorg to use Xorg here.
Similarly, you can switch back to Wayland when you feel like it.
How to know if I am using Wayland or Xorg
Since we are talking about Wayland, Xorg etc, let’s also see how to know which display server is being used. To find that out, open a terminal and use the following command:
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPEAnd then if you see X11, it’s Xorg. If you see Wayland, quite obviously, the display server in use is Wayland.
Quick Tip: Few programs that require root privileges have troubles with Wayland. For example, gParted won’t run at all in Ubuntu 17.10 if you are using Wayland. If you don’t want to switch to Xorg, there is still a way to use these applications with sudo.
Use the command below
xhost +si:localuser:rootand then run the troublesome program with sudo like this:
sudo gpartedThis tip was suggested by It’s FOSS reader Sean and was found here.
I hope this quick tip helped you to switch to Xorg from Wayland in Ubuntu 17.10. Stay tuned for more Ubuntu 17.10 tips and tricks.
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Inkscape for beginners
Unleash your creativity with Inkscape, fun, powerful, free, and open source software for creating scalable vector graphics.
9 up
John Morgan on Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Inkscape is a powerful, open source desktop application for creating two-dimensional scalable vector graphics. Although it’s primarily an illustration tool, Inkscape is used for a wide range of computer graphic tasks.
The variety of what can be done with Inkscape is vast and sometimes surprising. It is used to make diagrams, logos, programmatic marketing materials, web graphics, and even for paper scrapbooking. People also draw game sprites, produce banners, posters, and brochures. Others use Inkscape to draft web design mockups, detail layouts for printed circuit boards, or produce outline files to send to laser cutting equipment.
Advantages of vector graphics
Inkscape’s native file format, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), is a W3C open standard. Vector graphics are made up of points and the lines between them. In Inkscape, these are called nodes and paths. Most vector graphics tools give users the ability to create paths called “primitives” or shapes. A shape is really just a closed path. Shapes like circles, squares, triangles, and other polygons are all used extensively in the creation of vector graphics. The other major type of computer images are raster graphics. Instead of being made up of paths, raster graphics are made with a grid of pixels. Vector graphics can easily be converted into raster graphics, but it is much more difficult to convert raster graphics into vectors.
Common file formats for raster graphics include JPG, PNG, BMP, and TIF. Digital photographs are generally born as raster images, and it’s best to edit them in a raster graphics tool, such as GIMP or darktable. However, importing raster graphics into Inkscape for use within a larger vector graphic project is possible, either by linking it or by embedding it directly into the file.
The main advantages of using vector over raster graphics come down to scalability and file size, but the vector approach won’t suit every use case.
The SVG format that Inkscape uses as its native file format can be opened by almost any other vector graphics tool and can also be viewed by all modern web browsers, which means SVG is increasingly being used on the web and in other kinds of digital design.
A tool to unleash creativity
Like programming or writing, drawing is a skill that lets people express ideas. From rough sketches to famous works of art, drawing can be a pure manifestation of imagination or a way to represent reality from our own unique perspective.
Inkscape gives us all an unlimited canvas of potential. Our powers of creation are limited only by the skill with which we tame our tools. If we work on building a basic familiarity with the tools available and practice using them, we can unleash the power of Inkscape for a huge range of graphic communication projects.
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Customize Gnome
- View Original
- July 20th, 2017
Want to change the icon, shell theme or even the font in Gnome Shell but not sure how? Not to worry. In this article, we’ll teach you everything there is to know about how to take the Gnome desktop environment, customize it and make it your own. From icons, to mouse cursors, extensions, fonts and everything in between; this is the definitive guide on how to customize Gnome Shell. Let’s get started!
Tweak Tool
All of the customization in this article is done with the help of the Gnome Tweak Tool. It may already be installed on your Linux PC. If not, open a terminal, or software browser, search for “Gnome Tweak Tool”, and install it.
Appearance
Unlike a lot of other desktop environments, the appearance section in Gnome Shell is very simple. It isn’t separated into individual tabs. In this section, we’ll go over how to change different aspects of the Gnome appearance.
To start off, make sure that Gnome Tweak Tool is installed. Once installed, open up the tweak tool, and look to the list on the left-hand side. Select “Appearance”.
GTK Theme
Gnome is built in large part thanks to the GTK3 toolkit. As a result, all of the window decorations, and program controls rely on it. The GTK theme is responsible for how all of this looks on your operating system. To change the theme, go to the Tweak Tool and find “GTK+”.
Next to the GTK+ label, select the drop-down menu. This reveals a list of all installed GTK3 themes on available on the system. Select a theme from the list and Gnome will instantly change to the selected theme.
Gnome Shell Theme
Gnome is built in large part thanks to GTK3. With that said, the GTK+ theme isn’t the only thing that makes up a Gnome desktop. There’s also the Shell to worry about.
The Shell aspect of Gnome, is the overall desktop the user uses, when they’re inside Gnome. By default, the Gnome Shell uses the Adwaita theme. It’s alright as far as an ordinary Gnome theme goes, but it’s not the most exciting.
Changing the shell theme is not possible out of the box. Instead, you’ll need to enable an extension that allows user-themes to be used with Gnome Shell. To enable the extension, look for the “Extension tab” on the left, and click it. Search for “User themes” and click the “off” button to turn it on.
With the button clicked, go back to “Appearance”, and find “Shell theme”. Click the drop-down menu next to it, and select a theme in the menu. Gnome will instantly change to the new theme.
Icons
Changing icons in Gnome 3 is super easy. To do it, simply go to the Appearance tab inside Gnome Tweak Tool, and locate “Icons”. Next to the “Icons” label, there’s a drop-down menu. Click this menu to reveal all installed icon themes on the system. To switch to any theme, select one from the list.
Cursor
For those that didn’t know: it is possible to theme your mouse cursor on Gnome 3. To do it, go to “Appearance” in Gnome Tweak Tool, and look for “Cursor”. Select the dropdown menu next to the “Cursor” label. The drop-down menu will reveal all mouse cursor themes installed on the system. To change themes, simply select one.
Extensions
The Gnome 3 desktop allows users to install extensions to easily tweak the way their desktop works. To customize these extensions, select “Extensions” in Tweak Tool. From here, installed extensions can be turned on and off, or uninstalled entirely. Learn more about extensions here.
Fonts
To change the font settings in Gnome Shell, locate the “Fonts” section of Gnome Tweak Tool. The fonts section gives the user a whole lot of options. From this menu, you can change the Window Titles font, the Documents font, and the monospace font. It is also possible to change the appearance of the fonts on the system (hinting and anti-aliasing factors), and toggle HiDPI scaling.
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Microcode Patch for Linux-based operating systems
By now, everyone heard about Meltdown and Spectre, two severe hardware bugs that affect billions of devices, putting them at risk of attacks as unprivileged attackers could steal your sensitive data stored in kernel memory using a locally installed application or via the Internet using malicious scripts. Intel, AMD, and ARM processors are affected by these security exploits.
Intel promised last week to release updated microcode to address the Meltdown and Spectre bugs, and the patch is finally here, available for numerous of its processors released in the past five years. Users are urged to update the microcode (installation instructions are available below) immediately. The entire list is attached at the end of the article, and Intel has also listed some of the officially supported Linux-based operating systems.
These include Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4, 7.3, 7.2, 7.1, and 7.0, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.8, 6.7, 6.6, 6.5, 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, SP3, SP2, and SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, SP4, SP3, SP2, and SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 12.2, CentOS 7.4, 7.3, 7.2, 7.1, and 7.0, Debian 8.x and 7.x, Fedora 24 and 23, as well as Ubuntu16.04 LTS and 14.04 LTS.
Intel also lists Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, Ubuntu, OpenDesktop, Google Chrome OS, and Chromium OS as supported operating systems, which means that any distro based on these OSes can be updated. Therefore, we recommend all OS vendors to download this patch and port it to their GNU/Linux distribution if it’s based on Ubuntu, SUSE, Red Hat, etc.
Here’s how to update the Intel CPU microcode on Linux
The archive released by Intel for Linux OSes contains a microcode.dat file, which is available in a traditional text format and still used in some Linux distros, allowing users to update the Intel CPU microcode through the old microcode update interface that’s available in the Linux kernel with and can be enabled with the CONFIG_MICROCODE_OLD_INTERFACE=y option.
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Run a Full Linux Desktop in a Browser Tab on Your Chromebook
February 2nd, 2015
Crouton is the best way to run Linux alongside Chrome OS on your Chromebook. Now it’s even better — you can run that Linux desktop in a browser tab.
This isn’t official Google software, but the extension itself was created by David Schneider, Crouton developer and Google employee. It’s as close as you’re going to get!
How It Works
This method requires a full Crouton installation. The Linux system isn’t actually running in a browser tab. It’s running on your Chromebook’s system as it is with Crouton. The browser tab just provides a “window” to that Linux desktop so you don’t have to switch back and forth with keyboard shortcuts.
It’s a bit like VNC or another remote-desktop solution — but better. The browser tab runs software that connects to the desktop Linux system running in the background and makes it available to you in a typical Chrome OS window.
This still requires the usual Crouton installation process — it just means that Linux system can be used much more easily and in a more integrated way afterwards.
This method also adds a few more bonuses. Your Chrome OS clipboard will synchronize back and forth with your Linux system (known as a “chroot”) and links you click in the Linux environment can be loaded in standard Chrome OS browser tabs.
Install Crouton on Your Chromebook
First, you’ll need to have Crouton installed. This involves enabling Developer Mode on your Chromebook and then running the appropriate command to download and install the Linux desktop software you want to use.
Follow our guide to installing Linux on your Chromebook with Crouton if you need more details. Be sure to install the “xiwi” or “extension” target of Crouton. For example, run the following command to install the Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) Linux system with the Xfce desktop and support for running in a browser tab:
sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t xfce,xiwi
Wait a while for the script to download and install the Linux software after running the command. Provide a username and password when prompted, and check the official documentation if you need help with anything else.
Install the Browser Extension
Your Crouton Linux system should now be installed. Typically, you’d launch it from the terminal and then switch between it and your Chrome OS desktop with specific keyboard shortcuts. That’s more convenient than rebooting to switch between the two environments, but the browser extension here makes it even more convenient.
Install the Crouton Integration extension from the Chrome Web Store on your Chromebook. Next, start the Linux system by opening a shell and running the appropriate command. For example, if you installed the Xfce desktop, you could press Ctrl+Alt+T, type shell and press Enter, and then type sudo startxfce4 and press Enter.
Do whatever you like with the Crouton tab or window. You can have the Linux system in a full-screen browser tab, or put it in a window and move it wherever you want on your screen. The Linux desktop can be resized on the fly — just by resizing the window
If you have a large enough screen, you could even use split-screen mode, viewing your Linux desktop on one half of the screen and Chrome OS applications and browser windows on the other half.
Full desktop Linux systems open up a lot of possibilities, from using powerful developer tools and standard UNIX commands to playing games like Minecraft and the many games available on Steam for Linux. Web developers could even use this trick to run Firefox directly on their Chromebooks in a browser tab so they can see how their websites render in a different browser. Now all of it can be done right on the Chrome OS desktop without all the switching back and forth.
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Microsoft demands your mobile number
Microsoft demands your mobile number when setting up Windows 10 Build 17063
- View Original
- December 30th, 2017
Windows 10 Build 17063 asks, nay, demands that you give your mobile phone number to Microsoft during the set up process. If you refuse to give the number to the gang in Redmond, you will not be allowed to finish installing the new build on your PC. The screen that demands your number says “Link your Phone and PC. Windows loves all your devices-get essential apps that help you work better across your devices.”
There is no “Skip” button, and when you enter your mobile number an SMS message is sent to your smartphone that links the two devices. This allows you to use features like “Continue on PC” which is an app that allows you to start looking over a website on your phone and finish it on your PC screen.
Earlier versions allowed Windows 10 users to skip this action if the user so desired. As it turns out, invisible buttons is a known issue with this build. This means that there could be a skip button that users just can’t see. But for the moment, we have no idea if this is actually the case. So assuming that Microsoft just wants to obtain your phone number so that it can promote its apps for your Android phone, remember that this is strictly an insider build. And that means that if enough complaints are made, the company could decide to return the button. That is, if they did remove it after all.
source: Windowsarea.de (translated) via MSPoweruser
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Customize GNOME Desktop in Ubuntu 17.10
Customize GNOME Desktop With These Tips in Ubuntu 17.10
Brief: Some basic and some interesting GNOME customization tips to get more out of your Ubuntu 17.10 desktop.
When I last wrote about things to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10, I didn’t focus a lot on customizing GNOME. It’s because tweaking GNOME is a vast topic and it deserves an article of its own. And hence here I am with some basic and some interesting GNOME tips.
While I have written this article focusing on Ubuntu 17.10, I am sure that most of these tweaks are applicable to any Linux distribution using GNOME desktop.
Before you see how to customize GNOME, you should first get acquainted with this desktop environment.
Get Familiar with GNOME in Ubuntu 17.10
Most of the points in this section are obvious ones. I still included them so that it helps you if you are entirely new to GNOME desktop.
Application Display
You can see all the applications installed on your system using the Show Applications option at the bottom of the launcher. This is similar to Launchpad in macOS.
You can also search for applications if you cannot see them. If the application is not installed, it may even show the option to install from Software Center.
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Reset Ubuntu Derivatives Back to Default with Resetter
The Resetter tool will take Ubuntu, Linux Mint (and a few other, Ubuntu-based distributions) back to stock configuration. Jack Wallen shows how.
How many times have you dived deep into Ubuntu (or a Ubuntu derivative), configuring things and installing software, only to find that your desktop (or server) platform isn’t exactly what you wanted. This situation can be problematic when you already have all of your user files on the machine. In this case, you have a choice, you can either back up all your data, reinstall the operating system, and copy your data back onto the machine, or you can give a tool like Resettera go.
Resetter is a new tool (written by Canadian developer that goes by the name “gaining”), written in Python and pyqt, that will reset Ubuntu, Linux Mint (and a few other, Ubuntu-based distributions) back to stock configurations. Resetter offers two different reset options: Automatic and Custom. With the Automatic option, the tool will:
- Remove user-installed apps
- Delete users and home directories
- Create default backup user
- Auto install missing pre-installed apps (MPIAs)
- Remove non-default users
- Remove snap packages
The Custom option will:
- Remove user-installed apps or allow you to select which apps to remove
- Remove old kernels
- Allow you to choose users to delete
- Delete users and home directories
- Create default backup user
- Allow you to create custom backup user
- Auto install MPIAs or chose which MPIAs to install
- Remove non-default users
- View all dependent packages
- Remove snap packages
I’m going to walk you through the process of installing and using Resetter. However, I must tell you that this tool is very much in beta. Even so, resetter is definitely worth a go. In fact, I would encourage you to test the app and submit bug reports (you can either submit them via GitHub or send them directly to the developer’s email address, gaining7@outlook.com).
It should also be noted that, at the moment, the only supported distributions are:
- Debian 9.2 (stable) Gnome edition
- Linux Mint 17.3+ (support for mint 18.3 coming soon)
- Ubuntu 14.04+ (Although I found 17.10 not supported)
- Elementary OS 0.4+
- Linux Deepin 15.4+
With that said, let’s install and use Resetter. I’ll be demonstrating on Elementary OS Loki.
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