I was bored, so I made this - enjoy

[whs]

Since I did not have much to do, I thought it would be fun to explore other operating systems. After all, with the recent developments in Windows, you never know where this will end up.

I looked at a variety of Linux distros. They have an adorable price of $0 and are easily installed in VMware player. In the past, I had already used Fedora and Ubuntu plus a few other smaller distros. The new Ubuntu with the Unity UI I did not like. Zorin was the first distro with which I had fun. Then I switched to Mint Cinnamon which is pretty nice but I finally settled for Mint Mate, the Nadia edition. That is a really nice operating system highly customizable which should suffice for any average user.

So I produced a small set of video tutorials that explain how to setup Linux Mint Mate. The first 6 videos cover the following subjects :

· Basic setup after installation
· Refining the Theme and Skin
· Start Menu and Taskbar settings
· Terminal window setup
· Installing and uninstalling Programs
· Screen Recording

In addition there is a link to a PDF with the topic : Installation of Mint Mate in VMware Player. This section contains a written tutorial and three videos.

If you are interested in the subject, download the control sheet (a PDF) from my Skydrive.


Full link for the PDF:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=475a...cid=475A0A48CA6D4035&id=475A0A48CA6D4035!1856

 

[maxie]

I have used Ubuntu but switched to Zorin which i do like but will give Mint Mate a try many thanks

 

[whs]

I love Zorin too. But Mint Mate is a lot richer and has more possibilities. Have a look at the videos - especially the one about Terminal (#4) and you will see.

 

[maxie]

I have bookmarked the page for future reference as at present i am traveling and have mobile broadband which is not the
best

 

[whs]

It is only a 2 page pdf control sheet. So a download should not be a problem.

 

[M1GU31]

IMO Linux mint cinnamon has got to be my favorite Linux distro. Would use it more often if it had more support for my pc games. Tried running some but I got worse performance so I kept them on windows 7 instead.

 

[Iforgot]

But it's Linux

If you don't like the GUI, reconfigure it or just change it.

Most people turn off Linux because of the obscure names for programs, it looks different etc.

You're seeing now, how W8 is upsetting a lot of Windows users.
Why ???
The GUI has changed.

 

[Element7]

Since I did not have much to do, I thought it would be fun to explore other operating systems. After all, with the recent developments in Windows, you never know where this will end up.

I looked at a variety of Linux distros. They have an adorable price of $0 and are easily installed in VMware player. In the past, I had already used Fedora and Ubuntu plus a few other smaller distros. The new Ubuntu with the Unity UI I did not like. Zorin was the first distro with which I had fun. Then I switched to Mint Cinnamon which is pretty nice but I finally settled for Mint Mate, the Nadia edition. That is a really nice operating system highly customizable which should suffice for any average user.

So I produced a small set of video tutorials that explain how to setup Linux Mint Mate. The first 6 videos cover the following subjects :

· Basic setup after installation
· Refining the Theme and Skin
· Start Menu and Taskbar settings
· Terminal window setup
· Installing and uninstalling Programs
· Screen Recording

In addition there is a link to a PDF with the topic : Installation of Mint Mate in VMware Player. This section contains a written tutorial and three videos.

If you are interested in the subject, download the control sheet (a PDF) from my Skydrive.


Full link for the PDF:

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=475a...cid=475A0A48CA6D4035&id=475A0A48CA6D4035!1856

I have never used linux but this post made me want to try it. I downloaded VirtualBox and am now busy downloading Linux Mint Mate but would like to know what the advantages of using linux in a virtualization program are. Why do you use it?

 

[whs]

I have never used linux but this post made me want to try it. I downloaded VirtualBox and am now busy downloading Linux Mint Mate but would like to know what the advantages of using linux in a virtualization program are. Why do you use it?

There are several advantages to run in VMware player (or vBox):

1. You can run it side by side with your host system

2. If you install the tools. you can share the clipboard or drag/drop over system boundaries

3. Your host bootmgr is not changed by the Grub - that's a big deal and an important reason why I do not install a double boot Linux

4. Easy to backup the virtual system, just copy the VMware folder to a safe place

5. Easy to move the virtual system. I just moved the VMware folder to an external USB3 attached SSD and run it from there

6. You can have many systems installed in VMware Player. I have Mint Mate, Mint Cinnamon, Ubuntu, Puppy, Fedora, Zorin, Windows 8. But there is really no limit. The limit is your disk space.

 

[azasadny]

Thank you! I'm using VirtualBox and have several Linux VM's running (Ubuntu 12.10 and Open SUSE) and I'll try these others, too!

 

[whs]

I used vBox for many years. But then I noticed that vBox gave me problems with my host internet connection. So I switched to VMware Player which I find easier to use and more flexible - but maybe that's just me.

 

[azasadny]

There was an update released to VirtualBox last week, you may want to try it again. The main reason I tried it is because of the cost for VMWare ($200 USD). We use both here at Ford and I really like how easy it is to use... The 32GB of RAM and 3TB of disk in my new PC really help with VM's!

 

[whs]

But the VMware Player is freeware. I am quite happy with it. vBox really has no advantages over VMware Player.

I run all my VM systems from an external SSD. That is a lot faster than an internall HDD. Unfortunately my internal SSD is only 60GB - so not enough space for another OS (except some small Linux distros).

Speaking of small Linux distros. With that much RAM, try a RAMdisk. Move a Linux virtual folder to that.

http://memory.dataram.com/products-and-services/software/ramdisk

Free up to 4GB

 

[azasadny]

I'm not familiar with VMWare Player, just VMWare Workstation...

 

[whs]

Here is a tutorial I made on how to install an OS in VMware Player. I happen to use Zorin as the example. But it is the same for any OS except for the installation of the VMware Tools.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/278957-vmware-player-install-setup-zorin.html

 

[azasadny]

Thanks again, Wolfgang!

 

[whs]

You are welcome.

 

[Indianatone]

I'm not familiar with VMWare Player, just VMWare Workstation...

VMWare player is a stripped down basic virtual machine environment that is free. It does not do multiple machines at once or have the networking, snapshot or high powered features of workstation which for most users is overkill. It is an awesome program and is 100% compatible to Workstation (Version to Version) so if you create something in either it will work in either. Can't believe its free as it is that good.
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/desktop/vmware_player50.pdf
Download VMware Player 5.0.2 - FileHippo.com

 

[King Arthur]

I use VirtualBox and I've tried Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon, and I found Cinnamon still too primitive and young to use for anything beyond experimental purposes. Linux Mint 14 KDE however is really nice to use and feels right at home after some configuration changes and installing a whole bunch of Windows fonts such as Tahoma to use on the GUI with font anti-aliasing off; I've even contemplated maybe dual-booting my Windows 7 laptop with it!

 

[Britton30]

Maybe I missed it, where are links to 6 videos?