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Desktop managers


insane_alien

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I'm looking for a desktop manager(or virtual desktop thingy not sure what they are called) where i can have different desktops.

 

the virtual desktps i have come across so far merely have different wallpapers for each desktop and minimize/maximize windows according to what "desktop" they were opened in. how ever if you change the icons on one desktop then the icons change in all of them.

 

Is there a desktop manager for XP where it'll allow you to have different icons on each desktop. basically i want to set it so i have a "technical" desktop(all the AV and maintenance and diagnostic stuff) a "work" desktop(MSword and so forth, but no games) and a "fun" desktop(the masses of games i own.).

the only reason i want this is because i currently have a bunch of folders on my desktop to do this and its bugging me.

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I haven't heard of one, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

 

You could create multiple users on your computer. The "quick log off" (hold down Start and then press L) should speed up user changes.

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Just tried the Ubuntu Live CD. it rocks. windows sucks. nough said. Gnome here i come.

 

*cheers for ubuntu* If you need any help it's what I run (and throw at people all the damn time), so just ask...

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Ok. 1st question how do i set up a dual boot (my parents have only just managed to come to terms with XP so i don't think they could handle linux, besides i like my games.)

 

2nd question can i get it to boot into XP as default and only go into linux if i tell it to?

(its easier than explaining to my parents how to get into XP)

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If you use something like grub as your bootloader, it's as simple as specifying which option you want to boot by default, and then setting some kind of time delay. lilo is a little more complex to set up, but it's the same principle.

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If you've got windows already installed, and are installing ubuntu to a free partition or new disk (the easiest way to do it) the installer should add XP to the bootloader ment and set a 10 second delay.

 

If you want XP to load first (ubuntu tries to always use grub as apposed to lilo unless you tell it otherwise or do something odd on install) you will need to edit:

 

/boot/grub/menu.lst

 

I can't remember the format of this file, I can't imagine it being too hard though... You can also edit the time delay here etc...

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ok i think i understand.

 

I've seen a few times that it is possible to repartition without losing data files from XP using gparted on the live CD. i'm going to try that(after complete backing up of course). Is there any risk to it at all? i can handle losing everything but i'd rather know that i done it intentionally.

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ok i think i understand.

 

I've seen a few times that it is possible to repartition without losing data files from XP using gparted on the live CD. i'm going to try that(after complete backing up of course). Is there any risk to it at all? i can handle losing everything but i'd rather know that i done it intentionally.

 

There's a risk, there always is when playing with partitions :s

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*cheers for ubuntu* If you need any help it's what I run (and throw at people all the damn time), so just ask...

or, he could go to the ubuntu forums. there's most likely already a thread for whatever problem he has.

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You know in Windows there's this thing called like 3dxp or something. It gives you a cube, each face a different desktop and you can cycle through them.

 

Linux also has something like that.

 

As for your different icons /worspaces on Linux:

 

There should be little cube things (at the bottom, I think.) that say "Desktop 1, Desktop 2, Desktop 3 etc). You can click on Desktop 2, for instance, load apps, do whatever, and they'll stay there. Click desktop 1 and it brings you back to desktop one. Right click an app and you can "send it" to the desktop of your choice. You can set different backgrounds and settings for each one in options. If four isn't enough for you, you can set it to have as many as 20. It's pretty nifty for organizing things. Have all your websites, documents, and photos for a research project in one and have your normal stuff in another. That way your research project doesn't clutter everything up.

 

Most (all?) Linux desktops (XFCE4, KDE, etc) have this. It's been forever sense I've used gnome so I'm not sure the specifics. I'm emerging it, though, as soon as 2.14 is available on Gentoo. (yeah, I know, I'm lazy. But what are automatic package managers for, anyway?)

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What do you mean by icons? Like you want a "home" icon that looks like the house and another that looks like something else? You can make your own icons by editing the text to point to a certain immage. I'm not entirely possitive that you can have a different set of desktop icons for each. Everything on your desktop is located /home/you/Desktop. There might be a textfile somewhere that you can edit to specify which folder but I don't think you can make it change per desktop. (look in /home/you/.gnome)

 

Try looking around cause Linux is made to be able to do things like this. There is one neat feature you might like.

 

Make a new user, like insane_alien2, and give it all the normal permisions (there should be a useredit thing).

Hold down ctrl+alt+F2 (or F3, F4...through F6)

Log in as that account.

And run

startx -- :1

 

Now you can switch not just between desktops but between user names in less than a second (hense different icons). Cycle w/ ctrl+alt+F7/F8. I set all my games to run in another x server in case it crashes and I have to ctrl+alt+backspace.

xinit /usr/games/bin/bzflag -- :1

Actually, you can do whatever you want. Unlike Windows, Linux isn't limited to just one graphical screen. Install another desktop, like xfce4, and you can run as the same user. Just log in as insane_alien and run startxfce4 -- :1. Or have two gnome sessions running. Whatever. If you already have two x sessions open, use -- :2,3,4... Read man xinit and man startx for more information.

 

You might try asking at linuxquestions.org.

 

edit:

Btw, this is a great way to quickly remove stuff you dont want to be seen from your screen. "Shit, somebody's coming in!" *ctrl+alt+F7 :D

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