Linux Desktop

These hacks range from the relatively mundane (replacing the ugly gray startup background with a black background) to frivolous but exciting changes (customizing your mouse pointer to show animated graphics). You'll also learn two different ways t...

Some window managers and desktop environments change this almost immediately, but others leave the background a putrid gray. Here's a tip on how you can make sure the default background is solid black. (In case you're wondering, the choice of col...

Microsoft Windows lets you change cursor themes easily. Linux doesn't make it quite as easy (although the KDE desktop environment comes close). This hack explores how to check if your distribution of Linux supports cursor themes, how to find, do...

Want even fancier cursor themes than those currently available for Linux? A company called Stardock has created a product called CursorXP for Windows XP. It allows Windows users to choose from hundreds of fancy animated cursor themes. This hack i...

A major problem that has been leveled at the Linux desktop is a lack of good-quality fonts. This is because font creation is a time-consuming and expensive process that requires a lot of skill. Those who know how to do it are generally not incli...

Did you know you can display pop-up messages on top of X Windows, even if you're using multiple virtual desktops? This trick can come in handy when a pop-up dialog box or messages in a terminal window simply aren't sufficient to get your attentio...

Use XOSD to make these alerts really grab your attention. Many of the applications you use daily might give you the option of executing a program when an event occurs. The KMail email client, Jpilot personal information manager, and Swatch log-...

Hotkeys is a bit antique these days, so it doesn't support all the modern keyboards. But if you are willing to put in some effort, you can get a decent experience from Hotkeys, especially if your keyboard is supported. If your keyboard is not su...

This hack will show you how to adopt the modern equivalent of Hotkeys. LinEAK is a combination of packages, including the main daemon service and several plug-ins. It's a bit quirky and doesn't always launch successfully (at least in this author...

Although you don't need to go far to hear someone extolling the benefits of Linux and free software, many people still need to use other operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X. Aside from personal choice, other reasons to...

You might want to access a desktop computer remotely for numerous reasons. Perhaps you are travelling and you forgot an important file on your home machine. You need to edit it, but the application you need isn't on your laptop. It would be nice ...

For many years now, the X Window System, which plays host to KDE, GNOME, and other desktops or window managers, has had the ability to support networking in a way that other graphical environments can only dream of. These networking features not o...

The 3D effect is truly mesmerizing. A composite manager program called xcompmgr is available that taps into some of the new features of the Xorg X Window System to create attractive drop shadows for windows, pop ups, menus, and the like. It a...

You simply issue a command, and then click a window. Poof!the window suddenly becomes as translucent as you want. If you want to use this hack you need to have a recent version of the Xorg X Window System, and you need to install xcompmgr, as c...