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Ximian GNOME GUI

Ximian's Back 231

Posted by Hemos from the extra-extra-read-all-about-it dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Joe Barr at LinuxWorld has a hands-on look at the new Ximian desktop and he seems to like it a lot. The story is currently running on Linuxworld.com"
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Ximian's Back More

Ximian's Back

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  • On the Mark (Score:3, Interesting)

    by robburt ( 139183 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:05AM (#6094383)
    I am really glad to see that Ximian not only makes good off the shelf products for Linux, but they're now doing a great job of being really current with their technology!

  • Looks deadly (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Vendekkai ( 121853 )
    Saw the screenshots, it looks great. Let's just hope that it's low on resources, as well.

    • Re:Looks deadly (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dreamchaser ( 49529 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:50AM (#6094547) Homepage Journal
      It's GNOME, so it won't be a low user or resources. Then again, that doesn't matter to many people who have oodles of RAM to spare for their window manager.

    • Re:Looks deadly (Score:3, Interesting)

      by BrokenHalo ( 565198 )
      Let's just hope that it's low on resources, as well

      It's not particularly low on resources compared to blackbox or whatever, but Gnome 2.2 still stacks up well compared to 1.4. I don't have exact figures to hand re. memory footprints, but it is definitely more responsive.

      Can't say much about Ximian's implementation, though; since I abandoned RH and mdk distros some time ago and went back to Slackware, I've been using all these goodies in the excellent Dropline [dropline.net] distribution of Gnome for a long time now.

  • nostalgic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lingqi ( 577227 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:08AM (#6094396) Journal
    it looks like windows on the bottom-part (task bar) and Mac on the top part (menu)... it must be... linux!

    ahem... certainly not designed with normal people (i.e. those still operating on 800x600, like my parents only until a few monthes ago) in mind.

    • Re:nostalgic (Score:2, Informative)

      by damiam ( 409504 )
      You can always remove a panel and set it up however you want.
      • That's more or less true, though some have apparently had trouble getting rid of that top panel. One thing that struck me, though, was in the first screenshot: a "My Computer" icon. WTF???!!!

        • Re:nostalgic (Score:3, Insightful)

          by dcuny ( 613699 )
          That was pretty much the opinion of the article's author as well:
          • The Home, My Computer, and Trash icons on the desktop proper are permanent and cannot be deleted. I really dislike them. Nevertheless, I guess Nautilus (a fine tool, but I don't use it) needs them to be there. My Computer? Please. I don't want that on my desktop.

          C'mon, guys... Remember that moment when you discovered that Playboy has pretty pictures and content?

          Same here. Give it a try.

    • Re:nostalgic (Score:2, Informative)

      by Nodatadj ( 28279 )
      Most people these days are running on 1024x768 according to hits on my (computer related) website and on my friends bird watching web site.

      on mine its 40% for 1024x768 and 6% for 800x600

      • Re:nostalgic (Score:3, Informative)

        by Jester99 ( 23135 )
        Second that.

        I've bought two new computers (one a dell, the other hp) in the past 18 months. They both booted directly int 1024x768.

    • it looks like windows on the bottom-part (task bar) and Mac on the top part (menu)... it must be... linux!

      How do you come to that conclusion?

      I'd be more inclined to call it "WinMac" ;)

    • Re:nostalgic (Score:3, Insightful)

      by JahToasted ( 517101 )
      THis is so true. Ever try to run either KDE or Gnome with a 800x600 resolution? Quite a few of the dialogs are bigger than the screen at that size. Obviously the developers have much bigger screens than us mere mortals. I know that everything looks great on my 19" screen at home, but on the 14" screen at work it can be impossible to use. Kinda sucks because I'd like to set up a computer lab that runs linux on some older boxes, but its just gonna give me headaches if this resolution eliteness continues.

      • Re:nostalgic (Score:2, Informative)

        by Arandir ( 19206 )
        Have you ever logged a bug regarding too large dialogs? I'm on the kde-devel mailing lists, and have seen a couple of bugs come through related to large dialogs in CVS. They ARE taken seriously and they do get fixed. But they can only get fixed if they are known.
    • "certainly not designed with normal people (i.e. those still operating on 800x600, like my parents only until a few monthes ago) in mind."

      Yea because so many normal people like parents are using linux....

      Linux is an OS for technically advanced users. Users who wouldn't be running 800x600 in the first place. Look I'm all for linux expanding its user base, but let's be realistic about who is actually using linux as a desktop these days. The thing that is holding linux back is an illegal monopoly, lack of p

  • Ximian Connector ? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Aliencow ( 653119 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:09AM (#6094400) Homepage Journal
    Anybody has experience with that Evolution plugin and Exchange ?
    It would really be fun to have instant messages and calendar sharing and all on my laptop at work without installing windows...

    • Re:Ximian Connector ? (Score:5, Informative)

      by mindslip ( 16677 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:04AM (#6094609)
      I'm completely Windows Free, even at work. Admittedly, using the Connector is a little slower than if the damn thing just spoke MAPI (why doesn't it again?), but if you've got a copy of Outlook Web Access running, it's great! I can do everything I need to.

      On the plus side, over MAPI, I can at least get at work emails from home, which I couldn't directly do if I was running Outlook, since Outlook supports MAPI but *not* the webdav interface.

      Now... if I could only find where they're hiding the Connector for Evolution 1.3.92rc1 !!!

      mindslip
      • MAPI is, as far as reimplementations are concerned, a horrendous protocol. It's based on DCOM, which is itself very complex, badly documented and so on. In Wine there is a very rough DCOM implementation, and I think Samba have one too, but supporting MAPI would be a lot of work. There are probably only about 3 or 4 people in the world who fully understand the details of it, and they all work for Microsoft.

        So now you know.

        • This is correct.

          Theoretically you can speak MAPI if you have access to MAPI.DLL, which is part of Windows, and so not having that is sort of the point.

          Other options would be to reverse-engineer the protocol, which would have been really really scary, or building a Windows proxy to speak MAPI to the Exchange server and something else (XML/RPC?) to the Linux clients, which would add latency and cost.
    • Often, your business (or school) will have web access to the calender. Try typing your mail server's name in a web browser. I use mine with Phoenix on Linux without a problem.

  • Hmm (Score:3, Interesting)

    by captainclever ( 568610 ) <rj&audioscrobbler,com> on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:12AM (#6094408) Homepage
    I used Ximian desktop for Gnome 1.3 a while ago, and it was quite pretty. I've tried many different WMs and what-not, and I still like KDE the best.

    Yeah so it uses more memory than most, but if you've got it, flaunt it.

  • Even if it... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by botzi ( 673768 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:13AM (#6094413)
    ...looks gorgeous, I won't "migrate", cause unfortunately a couple of hours erlier I found my true love [slashdot.org] ,;oP...

    It's nice to see that every 3 hours we have a new Wm or Desktop reviewed on Slashdot;o)))....

  • Necessary? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gothmolly ( 148874 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:14AM (#6094421)
    From the article, it seems that you get some games, some sexy pre-defined themes, and some non-standard app behavior (Opera, etc). How is this a meaningful review, and where is the motivation for change? What does this actually do that Gnome or KDE don't? Linux on the desktop requires a good WM and Desktop, but this doesn't seem to add anything ...

    • Re:Necessary? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by TheRaven64 ( 641858 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:21AM (#6094449) Journal
      Exactly. I've run Gnome 2.2 on my FreeBSD box for a while, and from the review it looks and sounds exactly like what you've had by doing a 'portinstall gnome2' on BSD (and presumably an apt-get or emerge under Linux) for a while.

      All the new features he was ranting about seemed to be Gnome 2.2 features. What does Ximian actually add?

      • Re:Necessary? (Score:3, Informative)

        by IamTheRealMike ( 537420 )
        Yeah, it's just a piss poor review. XD2 adds stuff like real printing support, themed/better integrated OpenOffice, some kind of "Dashboard" app and a whole load of other goodies. It clearly has its own theme for both GTK2 and GTK1.2 as well. Unfortunately the first thing Mr Barr did was set everything to some random settings before taking any screenshots, and then proceeded to write about the menu layout.

        Basically, I suggest we wait for some real reviews.

    • Re:Necessary? (Score:5, Informative)

      by azzy ( 86427 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:21AM (#6094451) Journal
      ximian desktop /is/ gnome .. just made all pretty like. And you don't get those games with it.. the article said that those games were previously installed.. yet ximian desktop was smart enough to add them to its menu.

      • Re:Necessary? (Score:5, Funny)

        by cybermace5 ( 446439 ) <g.ryan@macetech.com> on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:41AM (#6095257) Homepage Journal
        Not so sure that's a good indication of smartness. As you said, Ximian is Gnome, and the programs were already in the menu. Hey, Redhat has always been smart enough to keep your menu settings, when upgrading from distribution to distribution. Even Windows does this.

        Personally, I got the idea this Barr character does not have a clue. He oohs and aahs about programs like File Roller, which is included with Redhat 9 anyway. And...uh...spends a lot of time talking about how he changed his theme to Grand Canyon, which comes with Gnome also.... It was basically a review of Gnome 2 and Redhat 9.

        Yes folks, the time has finally arrived. You know those annoying people who use Windows, and think they are Leet because they put the Taskbar up on the side of the screen? Now we got 'em in Linux. The geeks will have to find something more forbidding and difficult to move to, in order to maintain the technology separation from Joe Six-pack.

        • The reviewer comments on the first screenshot that it's what you'll see if you choose not to migrate your existing Gnome config. There is no mention of how well/if upgrading configs works, so I get the impression it wasn't tested by the reviewer.

    • Re:Necessary? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Xtifr ( 1323 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:07AM (#6094623) Homepage
      What does this actually do that Gnome or KDE don't?

      What do you mean? The question is a non-sequitor. The Ximian Desktop is Gnome. Ximian was founded by the leader of the Gnome project to market Gnome.

      this doesn't seem to add anything ...

      Why should it? It's a free download. You can pay for support, and for some non-free addons (like the Exchange Connector), but basically, the Ximian Desktop is the Gnome folks' own distribution of Gnome, no more, no less.

    • The hunt for lib files (Score:5, Interesting)

      by zakezuke ( 229119 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:59AM (#6094959)
      One of the most annoying aspect of linux, for me anyway, is the hunt for a chain of dependencies. You want a particular application, it says you need such and such... you go and find such and such, and you find out you need something else... and so forth and so on.

      For me, my choice to use Ximian way back when wasn't so much for the neeto eye candy, but because they had already collected all the libs I needed for some application I wanted to actually use. To that end, I found it to be most spiffy. One massive download later, I had a slew of applications all ready to go.

      Now if you are a seasoned geek, it may not be your glass of tea. If you already know what you want to run or have no interest in eye candy, or are a typical control freak who wants to do things their own way, hey that cool.

      But keep in mind that part of this linux movement is making an OS that your grandmother would be comfortable using. This is something that both apple and BeOS understood very well (engage flame retardent underpants)

      How easy it is to forget that goal.
      • But keep in mind that part of this linux movement is making an OS that your grandmother would be comfortable using.

        Huh? 'this linux movement'?? I think you mis-understand the difference between rhetoric and chest-beating on slashdot and anything important.

        'linux' is about cool Unix-like stuff. It's not a 'movement' to wage holy war on some perceived 'evile corporation.' Get over it.

      • Re:The hunt for lib files (Score:4, Informative)

        by BigBir3d ( 454486 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:39AM (#6095235) Journal
        mandrake has urpmi

        debian has apt-get

        either one deals with dependencies automatically for you.
        • Only if it knows about them. I've still had to play the lib hunt game far too many times with Mandrake.
        • I use apt-get for rpm on with my redhat 9 install at work. The only drawback compared to apt-get on Debian is that with Debian, EVERYTHING is available through apt-get... but with Redhat... only "kosher" apps are available through apt-get.
        • either one deals with dependencies automatically for you.

          Not always. You're assuming that apt can find the package, and that the package has been packaged correctly.

          The advantage to using Ximain's Redcarpet over apt-get (to install Gnome2), is that a Ximian staffperson verifies the package integrity.

          I tried to install Gnome2 for Debian a few weeks back, but kept running into dependancy hell.

          I ran 'apt-get install gnome foo bar', go to sleep, and expected all gnome packages to be installed next morning.
      • One of the most annoying aspect of linux, for me anyway, is the hunt for a chain of dependencies.

        So use FreeBSD.

        portinstall gnome2
        There, Gnome 2 downloaded, built from source and installed. Oh, you can't be bothered to wait for it to build? Then
        portinstall -P gnome2
        will install from binary packages (or source if packages are not availible). And yes, both of these get all of your dependencies.

  • So, when ? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by noselasd ( 594905 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:16AM (#6094429)
    The natural question now is , ofcourse, when will Ximian release Ximian Destop 2 ?

  • Near zero information in there. (Score:5, Informative)

    by watzinaneihm ( 627119 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:16AM (#6094433) Journal
    From the Conclusion of the article, it appears that the reviewer actually liked Ximian desktop. But unfortunately, he hardly gives any solid examples of why it is actually good or usable.
    The article is like, OK It is customisable, from GUI-apps that too (Standard with any desktop I would assume),detected all my Icons from previous gnome, looks good(?) . Only solid piece of info I got that is that it adds a program bar to the top of the desktop along with the default start menu at the bottom. And yes, most of the old bugs apparently have been fixed.
    But in the "bad and ugly" section the reviewer gives real examples ... like My computer, trashcan etc. cannot be deleted. Download behaviour of Galeon has changed etc.
    Unfortunately the conclusion of the article (ximian is goog) goes barely supported. though the author does call it a "first look"
    • I wonder why the author devotes a section to galeon and nautilus. They are separate from ximian, aren't they?
    • I agree. The reviewer seemed unfamiliar with gnome. The panel menu that he refers to is exactly the same one in gnome 2.2, and other than the background,s most of anything in his screenshots can be grabbed from art.gnome.org.

      Where were the screenshots of these admin tools he's raving about? I know if I were in the ximian desktop the first screenie I would have taken would have been of Openoffice.org in GTK2 that Ximian was working on!

      Maybe part of the agreement was to not give anything too nice away. :)

  • Wisecrack (Score:5, Funny)

    by arvindn ( 542080 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:21AM (#6094448) Homepage Journal
    "Darwin's evolution is faster than Ximian's".

    Couldn't resist :-) I don't remember where I read it though.

  • Let's hope they improved Nautilus (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:22AM (#6094455)
    I currently use Nautilus in GNOME 2.2, and it's major suckage.

    I can't edit a launcher, I can't create a new text file (ala 'touch'), and I had problems with creating a new "folder" as well. I wasn't able to move any files into the new folder i created, and trying to move some files into the new directory using a terminal gave me some wierd NFS error, even though I was using a local reiserfs filesystem! OK, so this is just a bug, it was still annoying because Nautilus didn't tell me what the heck was wrong. It just told be "Sorry dear user, I can't do it. I'm not gonna tell you why, but I will pesent you with the choice to try again, skip this file or just cancel. Oh, and if you skip this file, you skip all of them. Goodbye!". Well not literally like that, but it comes close.

    The more I use GNOME, the more I hate the "less (features) = more (work)" philosophy. It would be good progress if they would focus on letting users perform certain actions in a more efficient (less time consuming, less handling) manner.

    I hope Ximian Desktop addressed the extreme lack of usability features and hopefully GNOME 2.4 has too.

    I like GNOME from a visual point of view, but in terms of usability it still lacks.

  • Why emulate windows? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by prichardson ( 603676 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:23AM (#6094459) Journal
    I noticed in the screenshots that there's a taskbar on the bottom. Dare I ask why? Emulating an OS that most people who have used agree is confusing and not intuitive. Windows hasn't kept the location of its network settings constant since, well, forever, I think.

    Linux GUIs seem to have the same idea that change is good. One thing that made Mac OS nice was that until OS X it didn't change very much. Linux will never be popular if it can't offer a lot of things that windows doesn't. Linux should try to keep its GUI the same, then it will offer something windows doesn't.
    • In fact I think the standard look, from the screenshot, would be more similar to the macs then to windows. The default setting from ximian does not have a "start", instead it have a system menu. It also have a finder like icon on the right of the top menu. The bottom panel functions mainly for quick selection of running programs and switch desktops.
    • Just when I have moderator points, there's nothing interesting or funny to mod up, and nothing trollish enough that hasn't already been modded down. So I'll answer this:

      I noticed in the screenshots that there's a taskbar on the bottom. Dare I ask why?

      Having a taskbar is nice, because it gives you an overview of which windows you have up. That's nice when windows overlap and cover each other. Also, some apps (like Psi, a jabber-client) will change their name in the taskbar with a "* [x]" before it, tell

    • Why Emulate? (Score:2, Informative)

      by chthonicdaemon ( 670385 )
      Period. I must admit that the biggest problem I when explaining to people that I use GNU/Linux is `what does it look like'. I use some really strange WMs and mostly console tools, so my setup doesn't 'look' like the normal setup. It seems from your post that you think we need a unified look for Free Software to get accepted. Not true. Not even important.

      Another problem for some people is the distinction that the Unix-like WMs and desktops make between the rest of the OS and the graphical interface. N

      • I agree. Why emulate indeed? I think that most Windows users who are thinking about Linux don't just want a Windows that doesn't crash. (Though not crashing is probably one of the better "rational" arguments for a lot of people.) Most of all they are expecting something new.

        I think that is why MS tries to change things around with each new version of Windows, to make people think that they are getting something new and better.

        Easy manipulation of virtual desktops in Linux was one of the things that could

    • Linux should try to keep its GUI the same, then it will offer something windows doesn't.

      I disagree! The "start" button & icon dock desktop is a well-worn concept now - shouldn't new desktops be looking to innovate? Instead of emulating desktop formats from Apple and Microsoft (who've got massive resources to develop these things) new desktops should play on their strengths and try out something new (the previously mentioned big players are bound to a certain extent by their users resistance to chang

  • Ximian's Back (Score:5, Funny)

    by smittyoneeach ( 243267 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @06:37AM (#6094504) Homepage Journal
    I'll scratch it, but they have to scratch mine, first. And no flinging 'stuff'!

  • What's actually in XD2 (Score:5, Informative)

    by RossyB ( 28685 ) <ross&burtonini,com> on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:08AM (#6094633) Homepage
    This review is pants, it just talks about features of GNOME 2.

    However, I've seen Michael Meek's OpenOffice slides and XD2 has:

    * A rocking OpenOffice.org which blends totally with GNOME 2
    * printers:/// so that managing print queues can be done in Nautilus
    * a CUPS admin tool which isn't a web page
    * tight integration with network sharing (I've heard rumours about nfs:/// working again, but most sources say that XD2 is Samba biased)

    http://ximian.com/products/desktop/ just came up, but the server is kinda slashdotted atm...

  • The real thing that sets Ximian Desktop 2 apart... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Plug ( 14127 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:24AM (#6094724) Homepage
    .. is going to be Evolution 1.4 and Ximian's OpenOffice.org [ximian.com] for GTK2.

    That, coupled with GIMP 1.3 (the screenshots only appear to show GTK1 GIMP 1.2), will mean that GNOME (specifically GTK2) has all the productivity applications to finally get a consistent look across everything, something Linux has not been able to do until now.

    Unlike KDE, they are not all being provided by the KDE project - Mozilla, for example, is GTK2 native now.

    The real coup for Ximian will be getting GTK2 into OO.o - if they can do this, then the last minor inconsistencies will only be in applications like mplayer, realplay and xmms, and we've all expected media players to look different for years.

    (Though, you could go get RhythmBox. [gstreamer.org].)

    Ximian's starting to look /.'d, but by all accounts this could be out very very soon. And even if you don't like the desktop, Evolution 1.4 and OO.o Ximian Edition will knock your socks off.

  • Stop Press (Score:5, Informative)

    by Plug ( 14127 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:27AM (#6094744) Homepage
    After beating through the slasdotting, Ximian Desktop 2 will be released June 9, 2003

    A OO.o screenshot [ximian.com]

    Heres the announcement...

    Ximian Announces Ximian Desktop 2 to Provide Complete Enterprise Desktop for Linux

    Major Upgrade Offers Full Application Suite, Enhanced Usability and Robust Windows Interoperability to Enable Enterprise Adoption

    BOSTON, MA -- June 2, 2003: Ximian, Inc., the leading provider of desktop and server solutions enabling enterprise Linux adoption, today announced Ximian® Desktop 2, a major new version of its popular Linux desktop software installed by over 1,500,000 users worldwide. Ximian Desktop 2 provides a complete productivity application suite, breakthrough usability features, and seamless Windows interoperability to enable organizations to easily and affordably deploy Linux desktops in mixed Windows/Linux environments. Innovations include an intuitive interface, the Ximian Edition of OpenOffice.org for Microsoft Office file-compatible documents, one-click Windows network navigation and easy printer setup to reduce training and support costs. Ximian will demonstrate Ximian Desktop 2 publicly at the Jupiter Media Enterprise Linux Forum in Santa Clara, Calif. on June 5 and 6. The product will be available for purchase and electronic installation the week of June 9.

    "Our goal with Ximian Desktop 2 has been to enable enterprise customers to cost-effectively adopt and support Linux desktops," said Nat Friedman, co-founder and vice president of product development at Ximian. "Ximian Desktop 2 is the culmination of direct feedback from strategic design partners including over 25 enterprise customers and business partners worldwide. The result is an enterprise-ready Linux desktop that is easy to use, supports existing Windows infrastructure, and is affordable to manage."

    "Siemens Business Services is seeing increasing interest from customers for Linux desktop solutions, especially in the public sector," said Duncan McNutt, senior project manager at Siemens Business Services in Germany. "Our evaluations show that Ximian Desktop 2 can be a great fit for Linux workstation deployments. Its familiar interface for Windows users, full application suite, integration with Windows environments and centralized management through Red Carpet(TM) Enterprise(TM) can help reduce support costs for enterprise customers."
    Ximian Edition of OpenOffice.org Highlights Application Suite

    Based on the open source GNOME 2.2 project, Ximian Desktop 2 delivers a tightly integrated suite of applications with robust support for Windows file formats, networks and standards. It starts with the Ximian Edition of OpenOffice.org, a significantly enhanced version of the open source productivity suite, which lets users create, edit and save Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint 97/2000/XP documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Ximian improvements to OpenOffice.org include default Microsoft Office file formats, 800 new icons, a host of user interface enhancements, GNOME desktop theme and font consistency, and the ability to seamlessly browse, open and save files on remote file systems.

    Ximian Desktop 2 also features Ximian Evolution(TM) 1.4, the new version of the award-winning email and personal information management application that can optionally be integrated with Microsoft Exchange 2000 and other messaging and collaboration servers (see related release, "Ximian Announces New 1.4 Versions of Ximian Evolution, Connector for Microsoft Exchange..."). It also includes the Mozilla-based Galeon web browser along with Microsoft Windows metric compatible fonts and common browser plug-ins to provide access to and faithful rendering of virtually all web content. Ximian Desktop 2 additionally provides built-in Linux software updating with the new Red Carpet 2.0 application.

    Other capabilities include:

    * drag and drop CD burning
    * buil

  • You think (Score:3, Funny)

    by CptChipJew ( 301983 ) * <michaelmillerNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday June 02, 2003 @07:35AM (#6094777) Journal
    Once this project really starts to evolve it might become Xapien?
  • I note that Ximian Desktop 2.0 still hasn't been released for Solaris, despite Ximian claming it has been (see Press Release [ximian.com])>

    Quote:

    Red Carpet version 2.0 is available on a variety of Linux distributions, including:

    * Red Hat 7.3, 8.0, 9
    * SuSE 8.2
    * Mandrake 9.1
    * Solaris 8

    Obviously Solaris is not a 'Linux distribution' but I would like to know when it (and if) it will actually be released for Solaris.

    Building Gnome on Linux & FreeBSD is relatively painless compared to the n
  • Another cool thing: according to this screenshot [ximian.com] (I apologise for contributing further to Ximian's /.ing but I have no mirroring capability), you can get the XD installer to install acroread, RealPlayer, flash, Java and the Ximian (MS web) fonts.

    There was a recent distro (I forget which one) that, as its first screen, had a "Download all the things we can't distribute" menu. I have recently gone through the "Install all the Mozilla plugins for Red Hat 9" stage, and even with years of Linux experience, com

  • My review (Score:4, Informative)

    by IamTheRealMike ( 537420 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @08:19AM (#6095105)
    This is just from looking at the screenshots. Let's see if I can do any better.

    Firstly, it's clear that the visual style is a clean and stylish one. It's a GTK2 theme that doesn't suck, so congratulations to them for that.

    The OpenOffice screenshots are nice, but simply having a good icon theme and making everything white (it follows the colours of the theme) didn't make as much of an improvement as I thought it would. Still, nice to see it better integrated. I think OO can use Gnome VFS now also.

    The rest just smells of polish - what else did you expect from Ximian though?

    OK. So reading the FAQ, I'm left wondering:

    1) Is it really worth basically $100? Well, that would depend A LOT for me on how good Red Carpet Express it. I tried RC a few days ago, it's OK, but it has very little software available on it. Apt is good. They would have to work hard to beat even FreshRPMs, but if they did then yes, I think I'd pay for it, especially if they continue to improve the desktop to keep pace with GNOME, their own addons/extras etc as the year progressed.

    2) Who are they selling this to? Corporate desktop users will probably want to have it all from one place, the distro and the desktop tied together. Are companies going to pay once for a distro, then again for a desktop? OTOH I'm not sure there's a big market for XD Pro in the home user market either. Extra commerical addons are nice, but ... not that nice.

    Fascinating though. And out in only a week! I can't wait.

  • "Another small detail that I have noticed and appreciated in the new Ximian desktop is that when I click on a mailto: link in Galeon, I now get a compose message window addressed to the object of the mailto:" Wow. Take that konq..., err, no. I mean take that mozi..., err, no. Take that Window... nope, works there too. Hmm. Mac.., darn! CDE, Yeah! Take that CDE!

  • Totally Non-Ximian-Specific red herring (Score:5, Informative)

    by corvi42 ( 235814 ) on Monday June 02, 2003 @09:10AM (#6095441) Homepage Journal
    This report is a bit bogus, as he totally fails to point out any of the advantages of Ximian over the standard RH 8 / 9 desktop. Both use Gnome 2.x, and many of the features of Gnome 2.x are common to both. In the article he lists numerous "advantages" or features which he liked, but all of them are either standard to all Gnome 2.x desktops and are available with the RH bluecurve desktop or they are specific to applications like FileRoller, Galeon or Evolution which are independent of the desktop and also available under RH.

    All the system-config utilities he mentions are available in redhat packages ( in fact I wonder if this author isn't just confused as to what parts of his desktop came from whom ). The only real advantage he's mentioned is the ability to use a GUI to customize the programs menus - which is one major flaw in RH 8. Other than that, there's nothing in this article to persuade me that Ximian is superior to bluecurve. Not saying that I won't give it a try myself, but this article is a bit of a red herring.
  • Ximian is put together by the Ximian company, not by GNOME, so comments that this is "GNOME's own distribution" are incorrect. GNOME's own distribution is what you get when you compile tarballs from gnome.org, and pretty close to what hits debian.

    Ximian Desktop 2.0 is different to GNOME 2.2: most of the differences are public knowledge, but the review mentioned in the article is a bit crap.

    -> It's integrated. Instead of having half a dozen apps to do the same job lying around, one is distributed in Xim

  • Screenshot mirror (Score:2, Informative)

    by asobala ( 563713 )
    Save Ximian's Website!

    Here's one mirror I know of: http://www.idi.ntnu.no/~lindkvis/xd2/screenshots/ [idi.ntnu.no]

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