Review

Linux Mint 17 over Windows 7

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So, Before I had used Linux I always wondered why people who use Linux go for the hard things when Windows is so simple. But just to give it a try I tried installing Linux Mint 16 (Petra) on dual boot. But the partitioning went wrong and I lost everything; distressed I just installed Mint. And I have been using it for about 8 months and now I don’t even miss Windows 7. So, today I will be discussing the things I love about Linux Mint and why I ditched Windows 7 over Linux Mint.

  1. The awesome GUI desktop environment: The Cinnamon Desktop Environment resembles a lot to Windows, so you don’t feel like an stranger when using Mint. I has got the same Desktop with a start menu which is way more beautiful and handy the the Windows also I love the fact that they have give the search bar at the top so you don’t have to drag your mouse at the bottom each time. Also all the apps are categorised according to their functionality which makes your searching a lot easier.Mint [Running] - Oracle VM VirtualBox_053
    The task bar is quite thin which is remarkable gives you some more space on desktop! Now talking about the File Browser. I just Love it! Nemo simply has a lot to offer than the Windows File Explorer. Believe me if you are a Programmer you are gonna love its features.On the right corner you have the File viewing options searching options. At the top Middle you can view your absolute path or relative path. Then you have the Desktop and Home icons. At the leftmost top the Navigation Buttons including the ‘Go to parent folder’ option.Linux Mint
    At the left of the file browser their are the Quick links (Very useful). Also you can view it in a Tree view or Hide the Left side panel. At the bottom bar various information, Meta data or File attributes are displayed.is displayed. You can zoom in or out of the view.Now talking about the right click file menu. It has got a lots of useful options and the most I like are the ‘Open in Terminal’ and ‘Open as root’. The open in terminal feature save your cd command and lots of pain and the Open as root saves your sudo command. So, you don’t actually have to use commands using Linux. Lots of things can be done in the UI only.Security of Mint Selection_049
  2. Security: Linux is known for its security and privacy. You can set privacy options or File permissions so, other users cant access your files. Linux Mint has a nice UI for it too. Looks kind of amazing. When ever your try to access or change some important settings your desktop freezes and the password box pops up. If you are trying to access an unauthorized file the it will display you the exception. In Linux also you might know that there is no virus cause transmits only through executable files. So, no worry of installing any kind of antivirus. Pretty secure huh..Selection_059
  3. Notifications: Linux notifies Mint you about everything a little notification pops up at the left most corner with disturbing your current operation. You can receive important notifications like email, battery, Bluetooth, network and even songs etc. The other mind blowing thing is the small music player and the task-bar. Whenever you open and music app the sound notifier immediately changes to a small music player. Helping you to access your music easily.Menu_061Menu_063
  4. Applications: The Updates application is not complex at all as it is in Windows 7. There are priority levels for upgrades and description given. Also all your installed softwares too get updated from here only. So, you don’t have to individually go to every software and then check for its updates. The Software store is also great. Windows 7 does not even have a chance to stand here cause it does not have a software store. Plus, everything is categorised and free on the Mint Store. There is also Libreoffice similar to Microsoft Office and it does the job good although Microsoft Office has more features than it (but only if you need them). The Settings are neatly categorised and easy to understand which does not happen to Windows and its Control Panel is quite confusing. The other software worth mentioning are Thunderbird, Tomboy notes, Clementine, Sublime and a lots of others better than the paid softwares.History of updates - Update Manager_067 Software Manager_065
  5. Workspace: This one feature completely distinguishes Linux from Windows. In Linux you can open several desktop sessions or Workspaces and work simultaneously without disturbing other session. Switching between workspaces is also beautiful you just have to hover over the corners of the desktop or Hotspots.Mint [Running] - Oracle VM VirtualBox_056 Mint [Running] - Oracle VM VirtualBox_055
  6. File system and Multiuser: This is the main reason why I switched to Linux. In windows you cannot have multiple users accounts with different privilege levels. Also the File system of Linux is hierarchical. That means in a quite few minutes a complete map of your file system is set in to your mind so, you don’t find yourself lost. Though I wouldn’t be talking here much about the Files system a lot now.

So, been around 8 months and I don’t think I will be again moving to Windows OS any time soon. If you can get things for free, then why pay ? Download Linux Mint.

To view more indepth features of Linux Mint visit here.

Hostgator Review

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       Hostgator is a Web hosting company founded in 2002 by Brent Oxley. In 2006, they were hosting more than 200,000 registered domains. Hostgator also stared operating in India in 2011; its head office is located in Nashik, Maharashtra. Today they host more than 9,000,000 domains operating in 200 countries and its true they eat up the competition! I have also hosted my domains with Hostgator and they have provided an outstanding service so, today I am writing a review on Web hosting service of Hostgator. Actually, they have lots of services like Reseller hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated servers, Domains but I will be writing review on Web hosting because I have not tried the other services until now.

      When I wanted my domain to be hosted on the best servers I asked Google “Top Ten Web hosting services” and clearly Hostgator was among the toppers. I decided to host it with Hostgator India, as I live in India I needed Indian support team for better communication; but if you live in other countries, you can go for hostgator.com. So, I had domain names (GoDaddy) and I needed hosting, I selected suitable plan for my needs and checked out; the shopping process was pretty easy. Soon, I received a conformation e-mail and they set me up with a support member to get me started with my website. Back then, I was a beginner like you and knew nothing about websites, but working with these guys was so easy that, I was ready with my site in 24 hrs. Let us talk about the feature they provide,

·       Unlimited Bandwidth: – With the selection of particular plan you get unlimited Bandwidth thus increasing your rate of successful data transfer and with 99.9% uptime guarantee.

·       Unlimited Domain hosting: – Yes that is right you can host as many domains as you want, currently I am hosting three domain names and until now I do not have a single issue with managing them.

·       Unlimited Disk Space:-You can add as much as you want to your website. You can add thousands of videos, images or flash content it works with same speed without any load. There is no limit to your creativity!

·       Dedicated IP: – You do not have to share your IP address with anyone you get your own IP address.

·       Private SSL: – Normal SSL certificate does not cover subdomain names. It will only cover subfolder paths. But, a Private SSL covers all the subdomains.

·       Site Builder: – Know nothing about HTML? Don’t worry Site Builder will take care of it. You just have to follow the on screen instructions, customize your website, and download it when you are done. You have almost 4,500 free templates to choose from. You can setup a personal blog, a corporate site, or a flash website.

·       Control Panel: – The control panel feature is the most amazing and useful feature according to me. They have SEO and marketing tools (very important) which takes care of your Search engine optimization and submits your sitemap to all search engines making you more visible. There are lots of security options that help you to protect your website from spammers and hackers. Also, you get Quick Install where you can install all kinds of content management systems like Joomla, WordPress, Duropal, and other softwares. The control panel is like a dashboard where you can manage and add domains or email accounts to your website.

·       Unlimited Email accounts: – You can have as many email accounts as you want for your website. They work with all sorts of Email applications like Windows live Mail, Outlook, Lotus, etc..

·       Instant Support: – Hostgator provides 24×7 and 365 days customer and technical support, they are easy to reach and helpful. You have access to the forums and videos and tutorials; plus, there are weekly off-site Data backups.

Note: – Some of the services may change with the plan you select.

      Hostgator offers three kinds of plans to its customers, they are, Hatchling plan, Baby plan and the Business plan. You may choose any of these plans according to your needs. These plans start with $3.96 per month.

1.     Hatchling Plan: – This plan is recommended to hobbyist and beginners who are just figuring out how to do this! You get single domain name hosting along with unlimited bandwidth and disk space. So if you just want to host one website go for this plan. This plan starts from $3.96 per month.

2.     Baby Plan: – This is an ideal plan for small business owners who get less traffic. In this plan, you get unlimited domain names, disk space, and bandwidth. It starts from $6.36 per month.

3.     Business Plan: – If you decide to start some serious business and expect to have loads of traffic than you need a dedicated IP address and SSL Certificate. In this plan, you get all the benefits mentioned above with a dedicated toll free support number. This plan starts from $10.36 per month.

So, all the plans are reasonable and have lots of features. Until now, personally, I have not found any cons for their service but lots of people on the internet say that their customer service takes a lot time to respond. Uh…I have called them and chatted with the support team lots of time and definitely they respond pretty quickly also they are very helpful. So, if you want to get your website hosted with Hostgator I will give you thumbs up  Thumbs up .

Discount Coupons: – If you want to have some discount on your purchase with Hostgator here are some of the Discount Coupons that will help you.

1.     SHIRISHKADAM: – Get $9.94 Off…!

2.     KADAMGROUP: – Get 25% Off…!

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Enjoy these coupons, copy them, and use them with your purchase, to get those discounts and if you have experienced any pros or cons with Hostgator share them with everybody below at the comments section.

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