Virtual XP

VirtualXP is a project of the developer Leonardo Javier Russo. Leonardo has created a website where we can run Windows XP. For this, he uses an Emscripten build of the Halfix hardware emulator. Actually, it is the same emulator that has been used for older versions of Windows.

When you enter the page, it starts loading the emulator and the Windows XP disk image. This image is special. In fact, it is a mini version of only 42 MB. Let’s remember that a complete Windows XP image with all its service packs weighs more than 500 MB. Therefore, it only has some basic elements and not the full functionality of the original system.

You can open tools such as Paint or Notepad and use them without any problem. Additionally, you can navigate through some components, such as the Control Panel. However, if you try to go further, you will receive an error message. The system takes about a minute and a half to finish loading to the Windows XP desktop. You can resize the browser window and the system will adjust relatively well. It is advisable to try until you get the resolution to look as good as possible.

Customization is present.

Perhaps the most interesting element is that although the image is reduced, it is still possible to customize it as in the past. That is to say, we will be able to use the classic themes with their vintage color combinations. VirtualXP is an open-source project, and you can find its code on GitHub.

The post This reduced version of Windows XP works perfectly in the browser. appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

How to get 3D Pinball Space Cadet

As mentioned, there is a version fully compatible with Windows 10. It has been developed by Raymond Cheng. Who was in charge of the first migrations of the software. Besides being compatible, it is also totally free. Therefore, just go to this link to download it.

The installation process is very simple and is very similar to any Windows program. Once finished, you will see a shortcut on your desktop. Just double-click to launch the game. And you are ready to play. As an important tip, you should know that the z and / keys are used to control the flaps. Also, with the space key, you can launch the ball. Of course, you can modify these values from the game options.

Very well, we have seen how to play 3D Pinball Space Cadet on Windows 10. An interesting vintage and retro option for the nostalgic. The game experience is faithful to the past. Since it includes all the options. For example, it is possible to play with up to 4 players. See you later!

The post How to play 3D Pinball Space Cadet on Windows 10 appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

Learn how to hide the folder easily

As mentioned, the change concerns the appearance of the folder. This will make it practically invisible. In fact, all you have to do is modify the main icon. Then replace it with one of the icons provided by the system. With this in mind, right-click on the folder to enter Properties.

The properties window will be displayed immediately. If you have used Windows since previous versions, then you will be familiar with this environment. The first thing you have to do is click on the Customization tab. And then click on Change Icon.

We have reached the central point of the tutorial. Since the wizard shows a list of available icons. Well, just select a blank icon. That is, transparent looking. To do this, just select the blank space between the icons. As shown in the image below.

Please note that when you click on the white space, it will turn blue. So press OK to return to the properties window. Finally, press OK to set the changes.

Back to the folder location, you can see the established change.

Ultimately we have seen how to create invisible folders in Windows 10. Or move it to a location that is difficult to access. Then you can increase the privacy control of your content. All right, that’s it for now. Before I say goodbye I invite you to see our post about how to add a Gmail account to Windows 10. Bye!

The post How to create invisible folders in Windows 10 appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

eDEX-UI is a terminal emulator with a strange name but full of interesting features.

Actually, the whole aspect of the terminal is very interesting. However, the system monitor is very complete. It shows date and time, information about the hardware, resource consumption, network traffic, running processes, and a perfectly functional directory viewer. GNU/Linux users have multiple graphic options to monitor the computer. Such as Conky or I-Nex. However, in Windows this is not as common or easy to use. But in addition, eDEX-UI includes several themes to modify the visual aspect. And as mentioned, it includes great sound effects. These appear when the terminal is launched and while it is being used as well.

How to install and use eDEX-UI

This open source project is hosted by GitHub. Therefore, you just need to download it from the project site. However, there is no need to compile it, since its maintainers offer an executable file for Windows 10. After downloading, you just need to install it like any other program for Windows. At the time of launching it, the emulator has a very striking startup sequence with welcome more sound effects included. Although it is usually new at first, you may want to remove it later. And this can be done from the settings screen. To do this, just press the combination Ctrl+Shift+S.

As you can see there are many configurations. For example, you can choose other themes.

At the level of customization, the program allows you to modify many things. For example, remove the welcome screen and sound effects. Additionally, change the font, text size, enable a window mode, hide the keyboard from the screen, etc. In addition, there is a guide on the wiki about customization that includes even CSS injection.

Conclusion

We are definitely in front of a terminal emulator very different from the rest. Because apart from the options shown, it allows you to select the terminal that will be used. In addition, it is possible to run several terminal windows. From now on, you only have to use it to discover more features. I hope you enjoyed this look about eDEX-UI: A cross-platform terminal with a cool graphic interface. Before saying goodbye I invite you to see our post about increasing privacy in Windows 10. See you soon!

The post eDEX-UI: A cross-platform terminal with a cool graphic interface. appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

How to download and install the latest version of ReactOS

The first thing you need to know is that the system is not even in a beta state yet. Yes! Although it sounds unreal, in more than 20 years of work its developers have not been able to publish a stable version of the operating system. To be exact, the most recent version is in Alpha status. Even, the developers do not recommend using the system as daily use. Or run it on new hardware or with sensitive information. In fact, I installed it on a virtual machine using VirtualBox.

Now, if there is one good thing to be granted to developers, it is that they offer two types of downloads. That is a boot version and a live CD. It is important to note, that the boot version is suitable for installing the system. Additionally, the live CD version is made to run the system functionally without having to install it. It is ideal to test it without having to install it. Both versions can be downloaded from here. Another interesting aspect is that both versions are made to be installed from a CD. Sounds kind of outdated, doesn’t it? Still, it is possible to prepare a USB bootable with the ISO following the wiki instructions.

The installation wizard is retro and very full of options.

On the other hand, the ISOs are very light. In fact, the bootable version weighs just over 150 MB. In principle, the system is promising because its hardware requirements are minimal. Only 100 MB of RAM. In this case, at least, ReactOS is a real alternative to Windows. In addition, Windows driver compatibility has been greatly improved and basic apps are installed by default. Well, let’s take a brief look at the installation process. The first thing you have to do is to select the installation language.

The initial installation menu is shown below. Press Enter to begin the process.

A warning message about system instability is shown below. Press Enter to continue.

The wizard then displays the hardware settings for the installation. Confirm them by pressing Enter.

An interesting aspect of the installer is shown below. It has a very complete menu to manage the hard disk. In fact, it allows you to create primary, logical and extended partitions. Besides, it can delete and remove partitions. Please press Enter to install ReactOS on the selected partition.

Then enter the formatting menu. Use the default option.

Once the partition is formatted, the wizard will ask you to assign the directory where the system will be installed. You can leave it as it is or use another directory.

As I said, it’ s a wizard with a lot of options.

Then the copying of the files will start.

Now the wizard will proceed to install the boot loader. Once again, leave the default options.

At last, we can start configuring the system.

After finishing the above task, the system will reboot and launch the boot loader. Please press Enter to continue with the system configuration.

Next we will see the welcome screen of the system.

Then set the language of the keyboard and the name of the user.

Now it is time to assign the administrator password and the system date and time format.

In the next screen you can choose the theme of the system.

Now it’s time to set up the network environment.

After this step, the wizard will complete the installation process by registering components and rebooting the system.

First look at ReactOS.

Once the tedious installation process is completed, we will see the splash screen and finally load the system. Next, we will find out if ReactOS is a real alternative to Windows. In the first place, you will be asked to install additional drivers. This is an obsolete procedure and I confess that I omitted it.

From here on, the system behaves like a Windows 2000. At first, it maintains almost the same components of this system, such as the control panel, file explorer, device manager, among others.

It also has a Command Prompt clone with the ability to execute the same commands.

It also has a version of Internet Explorer managed by Wine. It’s a bit hidden, but by finding out a little you can get it.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the system is that it has its own integrated program manager. From it, you can download a number of applications, grouped into categories. Some are, internet, games, office and other. The problem is that most of them are old versions so they can be compatible with the system. This can generate instability and security problems. For example, the most recent version of Firefox in the application manager is 48. Currently, the browser is already at version 77.01, so the lag is strong.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, is ReactOS really a real alternative to Windows? The answer is definitely NO! There are elements that still don’t work and maybe never will. It’s most likely not the developers’ fault, but Microsoft’s closed policy. Besides, despite the long time invested in its development, it hasn’t even reached the Beta phase yet. It is likely that 15 years ago it was an interesting option. However, in the present times, this idea is out of place. So I do not recommend its use, except for enthusiasts who want to collaborate with its development. Or for those who are curious and like to experience different things. Before saying goodbye, I invite you to see our post about disabling the firewall in Windows Server 2019. Bye!

The post Is ReactOS a real alternative to Windows? appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

In this blog post, we would delve into the Google Keyboard, and uncover all of it’s main features, so you can use it upto it’s full potentiality. No one pays much attention to the keyboard, even when it is one of the most vital components of a mobile. Many people don’t even know how to access the keyboard’s settings. So, in this article, let us find out everything there is to know about them keyboards.

How to access Gboard settings

There are two ways to do it, the shorter one is, click on any text box, where Gboard will appear.

After you click on the settings, the Gboard settings page will open.

But, since, not all keyboards have the setting option embedded in them, you can open it from your mobile settings as well by the following steps :

1. Open mobile settings>System.

2. Open language & input

3. In Language & Input menu, you can explore more options like Spellchecker and Autofill options by clicking on “Advanced”. To advance to Gboard settings, open Virtual keyboard.

4. Select Gboard in the Virtual Keyboard menu.

The settings page, as shown above, looks like this

First up, the languages section gives you an option to choose a keyboard of your choice of language, starting from Abkhaz to Zulu, it provides a ton of languages to choose from.

In preferences you can change the physical features of the keyboard, as well as control the vibration caused on typing, and enable 1 hand keyboard.

Under themes, as you can guess, you can change the background of your keyboard for free. There is a myriad of themes and colours to choose from.

Text correction is a very important, as it helps you determine the dynamic of your writing. You can customize the suggestions and corrections your recieve.

Glide typing and Voice typing enable you to customize both these features according to your needs.

That’s it for today, you can check out how to uninstall pre-installed apps from your phone to make best of your storage space.

The post Exploring Google Keyboard and it’s Features appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

On the other hand, technology move on, the time evolve and things change. For example, now it is possible to use Ubuntu Bash on Windows (please check our article about Visual Studio Code Studio, when we explain how to do it). Additionally, we have reached a point where a Linux installation into Windows 10 is a real possibility and there is the basis of this article.

How to install Q4OS 3.8 Centaurus from Windows 10

In the first place, we need to know what is Q4OS 3.8 Centaurus, according to its official site it is about a fast and powerful operating system based on the latest technologies while offering a highly productive desktop environment. They focus on security, reliability, long-term stability and conservative integration of verified new features. It is a Debian based distribution offering with Plasma and Trinity as the desktop´s environment. But, the most interesting about it, is that includes windows installation to perform it as a regular executable application. So go for it, download the installer from here, and run it.

It is important to realize, that the installer is very intuitive and it will be downloading, extracting and expanding the target image file. Once we double-click on it, a window be appear with installation options, here we can choose drive destination of the installation, installation size, language, username, and password.

We select installation options and press Install in order to it begins to download and extracting the necessary files to complete the job. It could take a time, from a minute up to an hour depending on the disk size selected, or connection speed, so we need to be patient.

Once the installation process has finished, close the installer window and restart the computer.

First booting

The first boot takes a little more time than usual, inasmuch as the system is configuring the necessary services to work properly. Besides, the linux operative system will be booting directly to a splash screen where we have to enter the password.

Once we had entered the password, we starting to configure Q4OS as we like, principally with the apps an updates necessary to correct the performing of the system. Then we need to reboot the system, to apply the changes. After this restart, the computer will boot with a grub menu with Windows and Q4OS, and we can choose any of them.

Well, we already have Windows and Q4OS installed and we can boot any of them. It is important to realize, that the installer allows us to run it directly without having to modify the disk. For this reason, Q4OS offers an alternative to those novice users who want to try Linux without complications. Below we will show you some images of Q4OS already installed.

Q4OS with Plasma Desktop Environment

Exploring files in Q4OS

Exploring files in Q4OS

Now, if we want to uninstall the system we just launch the “q4os-winsetup.exe” installer once again and the Q4OS uninstall wizard starts. The uninstaller removes the Q4OS installation completely, so our computer will be reverted into its original status as before installation. In conclusion, we talk about a great and simple option to explore a free operating system.

The post Installing a Linux distro (Q4OS 3.8 Centaurus) from Windows 10 appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.