I've decided once and for all that I'm going to make a serious effort to make Linux my primary operating system. Am I dissatisfied with Windows? No. In fact, I'm quite happy with it. It's just time for a change, that's all.

This isn't my first attempt to switch. I've made several others before with various distros: Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva, Fedora, Slax...There's always been something early on that made me bail out and head back to my trusty old Windows XP install.

Now, I'm not blaming Linux. It's more to do with my comfort level with the programs I have installed. Certain apps that I've been using for ages in Windows aren't available in Linux, and that's held me back. For me, it's always been Photoshop (CS2 in Wine has never worked very well for me).

Recently, however, I've been testing out so many other similar apps that I don't think I'll notice it missing this time. I'm getting comfortable with GIMP's UI, and I can always use Drpic.com for really quick edits.

Which brings me to the larger point: how much does your OS really matter any more? I use Firefox and a handful of addons and a number of web apps now, so switching ought to be relatively painless. So far, the only thing I've missed is being able to install a Windows app to review it for DownloadSquad, and VirtualBox will take care of that soon enough.

What about you? Could you switch to Linux and not miss a beat, or are there still some apps you just can't live without on your desktop?

The Vector Linux team has released the latest Version of their Slackware 12 based distro. It boasts many features that make it stand out from the crowd. From the release notes:

"The release features fully working browser plugins including Flash, java, mp3, real media, Windows media, pdf and Quick time. Additional features include: X.org 7.3, Linux kernel 2.6.22.14, fully customized Xfce 4.4.2, Fluxbox, Jwm, SeaMonkey Internet Suite 1.1.7, Firefox 2.0.0.11 and Opera 9.5.0 beta1 (so you'll be sure to have your favorite browser!)."

We will publish a full review soon, but in the meanwhile be sure to check out the VectorLinux Homepage for more tantalizing info.

Understanding where your traffic is coming from is one of the major components to being able to optimize content for a better experience for users. Having a good analytics package is key, whether its Google's free Analytics or a visually stimulating package like CrazyEgg. Throw some confetti on it, and what do you get?

CrazyEgg is well known for their visual approach to analytics. Their free offering makes its easy for website owners to get a quick look at where visitors are clicking and how they are navigating through a website with the use of heatmaps, overlays, and now with some confetti. With the analytical Confetti view, users get a better understanding how visitors interact with their website. Visitor interaction can be sorted based on referrers, search terms, operating systems, browser, time before clicks and window size in a colorful easy to understand view.

Crazy Egg is a free analytics service, with an upgrade package available. Installation is through a simple javascript line added to webpages that you want to track.

Skype's Jaanus Kase obviously has way too much free time on his hands. On a whim, he decided to see if he could get all four versions of Skype (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows Mobile) running on one machine.

So he fired up Parallels on his Mac and set up two virtual machines, one to run Linux, the other for Windows. And inside of the Windows machine, he used Microsoft's Device Emulator to load a virtual Windows Mobile device.

The verdict? You can sit around and talk to yourself for hours on end. The Windows Mobile version didn't play as nicely as some of the others, but it's likely that this is because of the emulator rather than the Skype client. After all, we're talking about an emulator running inside of an emulator, on a machine that's running a grand total of four operating systems simultaneously.

Is there any rational reason why you might want to replicate this experiment at home? Of course not. But it's still pretty cool. What other programs can you think of that might be able to run in this environment?

[via Skype Journal]

I hate to be the one to bring down fire and brimstone from Apple users upon my head, but I must venture under the torrid sky for a few moments. Through some carefully placed corporate propaganda in no small number of places, Apple has tried (rather successfully) to convince its users that Mac OS is impervious and invincible, while the company we love to hate (Microsoft) continues to wallow in its own filth and bug-infested software. Apple has been painting a very pretty picture of late, but their rose-colored glasses may start to turn a shade of orangish-pink come 2007. In January, two security researchers plan to reveal a bug in OS X or in an OS X application every day of the month that has previously been undocumented. Now, before you all put on the spandex suits and burn this blog down with your flame-throwers, this is honestly a good thing for Apple and Mac users lovers everywhere. My tiny little point here is that Macs are NOT perfect, and that Apple is over-selling the idea just a bit too much. Anyone who really knows a Mac can tell you that there are vulnerabilities in a Mac. They most likely won't tell you that, lest Mr. Steve have their head on an Apple-logo laser-etched platter. NO matter what brand of non-sense you buy, it will be interesting to see how Apple responds to these guys and their security research sanctioned fault-finding. That is if Apple doesn't throw them under a bus first. If and when these guys find the vulnerabilities they claim are there, it will make OS X better for all Macdom. It will be interesting to see how well Apple does damage control, since Microsoft is usually the one doing that. I guess you could call it "a-bug-a-day."