Extreme Tech has reviewed the latest release of the PC-BSD desktop operating system, code named da Vinci. It’s written from the point of view of how simple it is to install and get going. It gets high marks for ease of installation and use, including adding and removing software.
Notable features of PC-BSD 1.4 are:
Moving the FreeBSD base version to 6-STABLE Xorg 7.2 KDE 3.5.7 Compiz-Fusion 0.5.2 Support for Flash7 in native BSD browsers (Firefox, Opera and Konq) Official NVIDIA drivers to simplify activating Hardware acceleration.PC-BSD uses KDE 3.5 as its desktop, which may be a pro or con depending on your personal preference. While the review was a good one, overall though, I didn’t come away with a compelling reason to chose PC-BSD over another OS. Your mileage may vary – if you’re a PC-BSD fan, let us know why in comments.
An OS for the rest of us: PC-BSD [Extreme Tech]
If you’re sick of opening a new terminal window for every application, GNU Screen is here to save the day. It’s a simple little program that comes pre-installed in Linux, BSD, and Mac OS X, and it allows you to page through multiple console applications from the same terminal window. Imagine reading your mail, editing text, and running a sorting application—all from the same terminal on your desktop! To get started, just type “screen” at the command line prompt. You’ll get a welcome screen, and then you’ll hit return. It looks like you’ve been taken back to the prompt, but now you’re in GNU Screen. Start an application, like a text editor. Then hit ctrl-a, followed by letter c. This creates a new window (you’ll see a new command prompt). Start your next application, then hit ctrl-a, followed by p. Now you’ve paged back to your previous window, with the text editor. Presto, two terminals in one! But wait, there’s more. More »
