Well gang... It's time. I've been a Microsoft pimp since 1985...

Time to move on for awhile. I've chosen Red Hat Linux 9.0 as my training grounds, and I'll be posting what I find out as I go along.

I'll be doing these posts spurratically, but if you care to follow along, maybe we can get this Linux thing figured out!

RED HAT 9.0: Basic stuff I've picked up so far:

Okay... first things first... In my opinion, I figured RH 9.0 looks like a cross between OSX and Windows 98.... As a desktop tweaker, I figured this would be a good place to start.

ICONS:




I like Linux Icons okay... but they usually aren't as cool as Windows Icons (I like Longhorn's icons... which can be downloaded from Theme XP) , I decided to try to move some stuff over... I managed to pull together a bunch of .ico files (Icon format in Windows), dropped them in to MS Paint (ironically, as Adobe photoshop refused to open them), and saved them off as PNG files (which is what Linux uses for icons).

Select the program who's icon you wish to change, right click, propeties, and click on the icon box. Sometimes there's a button for "Custom Icon"... so you'll want to hit that.

Now then. There is a drop-down box at the top of the icon screen... drop it down and select "/." This will show the directories and you'll be able to locate the "Home" file (which is basically "My Documents" Linux style).

RED HAT 9.0: THEMES:

Click on the "Red Hat" (this is your start-menu), go to "Preferences", and then hit "control center". Select the "Theme" icon... you'll be able to pick between several themes... I'm still learning how to do custom work, so I'll get back to you on that one!

Still... the color scheme can be kind of boring... right click on an open spot on the menu, and select properties. Click "Background" and hit the "Color" swatch... it'll take you to a little triangle of color you can move about to get the color you want.

MOZILLA:

Why the hell does Mozilla come in the classic "Netscape" look? I mean, let's face it... Old Netscape was really kind of plain looking.

Go into Mozilla, hit "View", Apply Theme and select the "Modern" tab and it looks like Netscape 7.0! Which if ya haven't seen it, it looks pretty slick!

SCREEN SHOTS:

NOTE: Special thanks to "Scapegoat" on this one. I was about to "BASH" my "GIMP" on this 'un (yes... Linux humor).

Click on the Red Hat, Go to "Graphics", "The Gimp", "File", "Acquire", and then "Screenshot"... make sure to minimize Gimp's main page, or all you'll get is a shot of that. Also, make sure to check the "Whole Screen" button, or all you'll get is the toolbar....

Well gang... So far I'm impressed as hell with Red Hat 9.0.

If you're interested in downloading your own copy, I found a good site for that: Click Here

These are the ISO files... just copy 'em up to a CD... works like a champ... Still, realize you'll need 3 CD-ROMs JUST for the O/S... took me about a day and a half to download them on 384 ADSL.

I use Mandrake Linux 9.1, and I set it to look like XP.