Mon, 20/02/2012 - 15:21 | 
webupd8.org
SyncWall is a cross-platform wallpaper change written in Qt which supports multiple monitors and wallpaper synchronization between workstations.
- change wallpapers automatically / manually (configurable a keyboard shortcut)
- configurable wallpaper change interval / time of day
- several resizing methods and background filling
- supports special effects for the wallpapers (blur, sharpen, desaturate, glow and so on)
- basic multi-monitor support (note: I haven't tested this because I only have one monitor)
- synchronize wallpaper between workstations
- automatic desktop environment detection
- can quietly start in the notification area (minimized)
Thu, 16/02/2012 - 16:55 | webupd8.org
Window Applets is a pack of two GNOME panel applets that lets you put the window title and buttons on the top panel. Since GNOME 3, Window Applets stopped working but today, a new version has been released with support for the GNOME 3 classic / fallback panel.
The Window Buttons applet is basically like the Ubuntu window buttons displayed on the top panel for maximized windows, except it's for the classic GNOME session and it's highly customizable:
- you can move it anywhere you want on the panel
- many built-in themes, more available on Gnome-Look.org
- select if you want it to control all windows or only maximized windows
- automatically hide for non-maximized windows
- change the button order
- hide some of the buttons
- more!
Sat, 11/02/2012 - 02:05 | webupd8.org
The Indicator Applet port to GTK3 has finally landed in Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin. This, along with some changes to the GNOME Panel default settings, finally "fix" the Classic (fallback) GNOME session in Ubuntu 12.04:
As you can see in the screenshot above, the theme still needs some fixes. But it's great to finally have a fully working Classic GNOME 3 session without having to use PPAs.
Here is how it used to look (no indicators, Ubuntu Sound menu or Messaging menu, just a notification area):
Wed, 01/02/2012 - 14:50 | webupd8.org
Back at the Ubuntu Developer Summit, it was decided that Ubuntu 12.04 will continue to use some GNOME 3.2 applications and will only pick up some GNOME 3.4 components like GNOME Games, Gedit and others.
Jeremy Bicha has posted an update on the versions of some GNOME components for the upcoming Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin.
- Totem: as expected, Totem will stay at version 3.0 because starting with version 3.2, it uses Clutter which means it won't work for those who aren't using 3D drivers,
- GDM: will stay at 3.0 because it requires a lot of patching, but Ubuntu uses LightDM now anyway so this shouldn't be an issue for most Ubuntu users.
3.2:
Fri, 27/01/2012 - 17:41 | webupd8.org
Holo is a cool new GNOME 3 theme pack created by Tiheum (the Faenza icon theme designer) that tries to mimic the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich theme.
Holo was initially called "Ice Cream Sandwich" and only included a GNOME Shell theme, but a recent update brought matching GTK3 and GTK2 themes too.
Wed, 25/01/2012 - 16:37 | webupd8.org
Orion is a new, clear GTK3 theme created by Satya, who's also behind other beautiful GTK and GNOME Shell / Cinnamon themes like Evolve, Shine, Minty, Ambiance Blue and others.
The GTK3 theme is powered by the Unico GTK3 engine, comes with a modified Boomerang Metacity theme and is compatible with GTK 3.2 (both GNOME Shell and Unity). Orion also includes a GTK2 theme, for compatibility with GTK2 applications.
Tue, 17/01/2012 - 20:26 | webupd8.org
Epiphany 3.3.4 has been released today with many user interface changes which bring it closer to the mockups we've seen about a month ago.
The new version features a much cleaner, unified user interface that's optimized to offer the user as much vertical space as possible. The old-style menu and statusbar have been removed, being replaced with a menu integrated into the top GNOME Shell bar (that will be used by the whole GNOME application stack: Music, Documents, etc.), a new "super menu" and a Nautilus-like floating statusbar.
The application menu, which is displayed on the top GNOME Shell bar uses the new Epiphany brand: "Web" (see screenshot above), and is only used for actions that affect the entire application, and not just the currently focused window.
Mon, 02/01/2012 - 17:22 | webupd8.org
Cinnamon is a GNOME Shell fork created by Clement Lefebvre, the Linux Mint founder, which tries to offer a layout similar to GNOME 2: a bottom panel with launchers, GNOME2-like systray and notifications and more.
Cinnamon 1.3 has been released today, bringing some new features as well as many improvements and bug fixes:
- panel autohide
- the Overview Hot Corner or icon can be disabled
- menu improvements, including: right click the icons in the menu to "Add to panel", "Add to desktop", "Add/Remove to/from favorites" or configuring the "Menu" text
- Panel Launchers now have tooltips
- themes in ~/.themes are now detected
- thumbnails from theme.json files in Gnome Shell themes are now used
- windows in overview now feature icons for easier recognition
For a complete list of changes, see the release announcement.
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Tags: cinnamon, desktop environment, gnome 3, gnome shell, Linux, linux mint, ubuntu
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 16:48 | webupd8.org
"XML Animated Background Creator" is a Nautilus script to easily generate XML wallpaper slideshows (wallpapers that change automatically) for GNOME 3.
There used to be many such applications for GNOME 2, but they can't change the background anymore because they still use GConf, while the background settings are now stored in DConf. And since XML Animated Background Creator is easy to use and install on any Linux distribution, I've upgraded it to work with GNOME 3 (it works with any "shell": Unity, GNOME Shell, fallback session).
To install XML Animated Background Creator, download the Nautilus script, extract it in your home folder and run the following commands in a terminal:
cd ~/XMLBACK
./install.sh
Clement Lefebvre, the Linux Mint founder, has started working on a GNOME Shell fork called Cinnamon, which tries to offer a layout similar to GNOME 2, with emphasis on "making users feel at home and providing them with an easy to use and comfortable desktop experience":
Cinnamon is a Linux desktop which provides advanced innovative features and a traditional user experience. The desktop layout is similar to Gnome 2. The underlying technology is forked from Gnome Shell.
Why Fork GNOME Shell?
Why fork GNOME Shell? According to Clement Lefebvre (who talked about this on IRC @ #mate), the reason is that even though extensions are cool, you can only do a small amount of stuff with them and you can't control interactions between extensions, their loading order and so on.
