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Filed under: Features, Linux, Open Source, Troubleshooting

Flipping the Linux switch: Envy, no longer a deadly sin

Envy
We're taking a little departure this week from our sometimes successful attempt to be non-distro-specific, and looking at a neat little program that runs on Debian and Ubuntu flavors (including Ubuntu-derivatives, like Mint).

Have you ever had the joy of installing restricted or proprietary drivers on Debian or Ubuntu? Most of the time, it really does work like a charm. Sometimes though, something doesn't go quite as planned. We had this happen quite recently with Mythbuntu and an onboard NVIDIA card. The restricted drivers wouldn't work right, and the very latest from NVIDIA compounded our problem.

In our desperation, we tried Envy. Envy is the creation of Alberto Milone. It is an unofficial (so please note you are using it at your own risk) installer for both NVIDIA and ATI drivers. For those of you who are interested, it's a Python/PyGTK application.

We're guessing that most of you just want to get your freakin' video drivers installed, though.

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Filed under: Design, Developer, Fun, Games, Photo, Utilities, Video, News, Windows, Productivity, Microsoft

Windows Vista multiple monitor restriction

multiple monitorsI've been a multiple-monitor nutjob since Windows 98 (first edition), when only a small number of video cards were even supported for a multiple monitor configuration. As time has gone on, Microsoft has made Windows better at dealing with multiple video cards driving multiple monitors. I'm sure part of this has been Microsoft guiding the video card companies to support certain standards, allowing Windows to get some consistency.

I hadn't really even considered the multiple monitor situation with respect to Windows Vista, because since Windows XP, it just really hasn't been much of an issue. Need another monitor? Slap in another video card, and away you go.

Now, it turns out, if you want to run the new Aero interface, you'll need to be using the same video driver to drive all of your monitors. Now, since Aero (in my opinion) is one of the only reasons to run Vista, obviously not running Aero isn't going to be an option. Hopefully this means that different cards within the same families that run on the same drivers, for example ATI's Catalyst drivers, will be supported. But if it turns out that Microsoft is requiring identical cards for each additional monitor, they've taken a big step backwards.

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

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