Introduction

This is the XFCE Community Edition for Linux Mint 5, codenameElyssa, based on Daryna and compatible with Ubuntu Hardy and itsrepositories.

List of new features

1. Mint tools improvements

All mint applications wereimproved in Elyssa. For the list improvements of mintUpdate, mintUploadand mintInstall, read the Elyssa Main release notes.

XFCE's mintDesktop has a new layout and some more options tocustomize your desktop.

XFCE's mintDesktop also has some translations and will be updatedwhen new translations are made.

XFCE's mintDesktop also enables/disables Compiz Fusion or even addsit to auto start on login.

XFCE's mintConfig has been updated for the default applications inElyssa.

XFCE's mintConfig also has some translations and will be updatedwhen new translations are made.

XFCE's mintConfig also allows you to change the Groups position.

2. Desktop improvements

Pressing the Print button now will take a screenshot of the desktop.

You can now check the MD5 signature of an ISO file by right-clickingon the file and by selecting "MD5 Checksum".

Youcan now open a folder as root by right-clicking on that folder and byselecting "Open Folder as root". This is a powerful but also adangerous feature. A warning is displayed while using this feature.

Youcan now install any True Type font by right clicking the .ttf file andselecting “Install .ttf Font”. It will check to see if the font isalready installed and display a message if it is. It can install to thecurrent user(User option) or to all users on the currentinstall(System). After the font is installed just restart anyapplication you want to use the new font in.

Terminalnow has colors and fortunes said by a koala, a moose, or even Tuxhimself! (Don't worry, if you don't like this you can turn it off inmintAssistant, in fact it's one of the first thing you'll be asked byLinux Mint once it's on your hard drive.).

3. Performance improvements

MintUpdate was refactored andits memory usage was drastically reduced. On some systems the amount ofRAM used by mintUpdate after a few days went from 100MB to 6MB.

Mozilla also greatly improved the memory usage in Firefox betweenversion 2 and 3 (Read more).

Elyssa comes with kernel version 2.6.24 which features a brand newscheduler called CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler, Read more).The kernel scheduler is responsible for the CPU time allocated to eachprocess. With CFS the rules have changed. Without proper benchmarksit's hard to actually tell the consequences of this change but thedifference in behavior is quite noticeable from a user's point of view.Some tasks seem slower, but overall the system feels much snappier.

LinuxMint is growing and acquired a second dedicated server. The Linux Mintrepositories (starting from Elyssa) are now hosted on a distinct serverso updating and installing mint packages is now much faster.

4. Upstream improvements

If you're behind a proxy you'llbe happy to know that Ubuntu improved the Ubiquity installer. You cannow define your proxy settings in the advanced section.

Upstreamimprovements from Ubuntu include the addition of an easy-to-use commandline firewall called "ufw" and the policykit framework which makes iteasy for applications to restrict some of their features depending onthe permissions assigned to users.

Printing was improved inUbuntu Gutsy and these improvements are coming into Linux Mint 5Elyssa, with the exception of the Print-to-PDF feature which is kept asit was in Daryna.

Other important upstream improvements come from OpenOffice 2.4,Firefox 3, Linux 2.6.24and Xorg 7.3.

5. Better Look and feel

The default set of GTK widgetsused in Daryna was called MurrinaIndustrialSM. Subtle changes andrefinements were made to it. Sliders now use the Clearlooks engine,scrollbars are now white and come with handles, columns headers weremade glossy, dotted lines were added in tables and the roundness levelwas decreased slightly. Overall it looks pretty similar to Daryna andyou might not notice the difference until you actually look into it.It's all about attention to details though and we're quite happy withthe improvements we made on this. The colors are also configurable nowso that's probably great news for people looking for an easy way tomake Linux Mint a little greener.

The default theme alsolooks similar to the one used in Daryna but with a more professionallook. Grub, usplash, gdm, and the default wallpaper look consistent andall use artwork based on "Carbon v5", a look and feel inspired byDaryna and designed by a new and great artist called Jernau. Isolinuxuses "Global Domination", also from Jernau.

With Elyssa alsocome brand new themes: MurinaBlue, Murrina-Blue, MurrinaGreen,Murrina-LightGreen, MurrinaMetrosuave, Overglossed, Peppermint,Wildmint, Aurora, Carbon and Lightning. These themes take advantage ofthe new Aurora and Candido GTK engines.

Emerald(Compiz Fusion themes) now comes with a new default createdby cathbard and modified by merlwiz79.

Emelrald themes has been updated and now has Mac4Lin, Metrosuave andOverglossed themes.

6. Better Localization

All Mint tools were internationalized and are being activelytranslated by the community.

Securitywarnings and major announcements will also take place on the start pagewhich acts as an information gateway between the development team andthe Linux Mint community of users.

To help add translations you need to look in the forums underTranslations.

7. More software available

Linux Mint 5 Elyssa is supported by CNR.com which featurescommercial services and applications which are not available via thetraditional channels.

The Software Portalintroduced in Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna is receiving more focus as itrepresents the easiest way to install applications. About 10 times moreapplications will be made available for Linux Mint 5 Elyssa.

The way we handle repositorieshas changed and we're now in a position to take advantage of thesections introduced in Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna. For instance, we willactively import packages within the "import" section. The community isalso allowed to provide packages for the distribution which are addedto the "community" section (Note: The community section is commentedout by default in /etc/apt/sources.list).

The communitysection is disabled by default and can be added by opening Synaptic andchecking the box under enabled.(Note: the settings to do this is underSettings → Repositories)

8. Changes in the default software selection

A new Minttool called mintBackup was developed and added to Elyssa. This toolprovides an easy way to save the content of your home folder into asingle .backup file. You can then restore this content later on orsomewhere else by double clicking on it (provided mintBackup isinstalled on the target system).

Hardware Drivers replaced Restricted Drivers Manager.

Sunbird was replace by the lightning-extension for Thunderbird.

Bluetooth-gnome was added for bluetooth support.

Gnome Device manager replaced Hal Device Manager.

Vinagre was added as the Remote Desktop Viewer.

EnvyNG replaces Envy Legacy (which was simply called "Envy").

PPPOE was added.

Known issues

Upstream issues:

• GDM: It takes a while to open the "Login Window" configurationtool. Just be patient, it will come up eventually.
• GDM: In "Login Window", if you select another theme.. even thoughit will tell you everything is fine, it will actually select to showother themes randomly. Open "Login Window" again and set the themeagain.

Mint specific issues:

• Widescreen support: If usplash doesn't fill your screen analternative is to install usplash-theme-mint-black (which comes with ablack background). All wallpapers come in widescreen format and GDMalso has a widescreen version of the Elyssa theme.
• Localization: Not all translations (for the Mint tools) wereincluded in the release. We had to code-freeze at some stage. Themissing and future translations will come in as level 1 updates.

Many items are available on a variety of media.  Below is more information about these options:

In addition to optical CD/DVDs, USB Flash Drives are very popular.  They can be used in nearly any computer built since 1999, and are very useful on newer netbooks and computers without optical drives.

There are currently two major types of USB Flash Drives we currently use.  The standard USB 2.0 drives from Kingston shown on the left, and the next generation USB 3.0 Flash Drives from Kingston shown below on the right.
 
Both types of drives can be used in any USB port from the early 1.1 specifications of the late 1990s through to the latest USB 3.0 specifications that came out in 2010.  The only practical difference between the two is their speed when plugged into a USB 3.0 port, which allows the Kingston USB 3.0 Drives to save and read data 5-6 times faster than the Kingston USB 2.0 Flash Drives.

The Mobility Kit, shown here on the left, consists of a small "Micro" SD Card which inserts into a small USB Flash Drive adapter, or standard SD adapter. This allows it to also be used as a standard SD Card, or USB 2.0 Flash Drive. This is a great option if you want to be able to use it in the widest variety of computers and hand-held devices, or if you just want a nearly invisible USB Flash Drive that doesn't stick out.

When ordering flash media it is strongly recommended to select either the Priority Mail or Express Mail delivery option.  Although you are allowed to select first class mail at checkout time, we will not replace any items lost in the Postal System.  In most instances undelivered orders are returned to us and we can contact the customer, let them know, and arrange re-shipment, but not always. Priority and Express Mail packages can be tracked Online so if something goes wrong we can track them down.

Flash Drives and Media Kits are ordered from Distribution on Mondays and Thursdays, with shipments generally taking three days to arrive. Please allow up to a week for these items to be processed, pre-tested, and shipped to you from On-Disk.com.

32 Bit, and x86 refer to Intel, and Intel Compatible, computers. These include computers using Intel, AMD, and VIA processors.

64 bit, x86_64, and AMD64 designations refer to a 64-bit extension to the existing x86 architecture. A 64 Bit Intel, or Intel Compatible, computer can run either a standard 32 bit operating system, or a 64 bit optimized version.

The performance gain from using a 64 bit operating system is virtually imperceptible in most instances. Where we could possibly notice a difference would be when the computer is under a heavy load such as when running high-end applications which may require massive system resources, or a highly over-tasked Internet Server. This is because the majority of the performance gain is due to the road the internal data travels on being twice as wide as on 32 Bit hardware, as well as newer/faster hardware that supports it. In normal computing environments, very little performance increase can be attributed to the CPUs enhanced 64 bit instruction set itself.

One remaining drawback to using a 64 bit operating system is that there are still instances where hardware support or software may not be available.

PowerPC, often abbreviated as PPC, was used by Apple's Macintosh lines from 1994 to 2006 (before Apple's transition to Intel). If you have an older Apple, or Apple Compatible, computer from this time period look for products offering PPC options.

Software:

The computer type option on software pages (not operating systems) is fairly easy to select. Just match the computer type with the operating system installed on your computer. If you are not sure if you have a 32 or 64 bit installation use one of the methods below:

• Microsoft has a guide for Windows 2000 and newer versions: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;827218 All older versions of Windows are all 32 bit.
  

• Under Linux run uname -a in a terminal window.
  

• Computers without a working operating system: Pay attention to the display when the computer is turned on, it will normally show one of the designations listed above. Otherwise you may need to press whatever key it tells you to use to enter the BIOS (AKA startup options). Once in the BIOS the type of CPU should be displayed.

Basic Shipping Info:

Orders are processed in the order in which they are received, not based upon the shipping option selected during checkout.

We do not work weekends or holidays.  Any other times the office may be closed will be posted on the shopping cart page so that no orders are placed without prior knowledge of possible delays.

Basic Shipping Costs:

(note: Orders of 3 or more items will be slightly more. Their actual cost is shown during checkout.)

• USPS First-Class Mail to US addresses - $2.37US for 1 disc in basic package, $2.66 for 2 discs. Delivery for most addresses is within 4 business days. Military and outlying possessions may be longer.

• First Class Mail International to Canada - $2.37US for 1 disc in basic package, $2.66 for 2 discs. Most orders will arrive within 7 business days, but a minimum of two weeks should be allowed for shipping.

• First Class Mail International to anywhere else in the World - $3.60US for 1 disc in basic package, $3.85 for 2 discs. Most orders will arrive within 2 weeks, but consideration should be given to the distance, Customs and the postal service in your country.

Flash Drive Shipping:

Flash Drives,  SD Cards, and CF Cards are ordered from distribution weekly, and normally ship from On-Disk.com in anywhere from 1-7 days.

When ordering flash media it is strongly recommended to select either the Priority Mail or Express Mail delivery option.  Although you are allowed to select first class mail at checkout time, we will not replace any items lost in the Postal System.  In most instances undelivered orders are returned to us and we can contact the customer, let them know and arrange re-shipment, but not always. Priority and Express Mail packages can be tracked Online so if something goes wrong we can track them down.

Returns and Exchanges:

Every order placed at On-Disk.com is a custom made product.  We make it specifically for you after you order it.  With this in mind, once the media has been created it can not be returned, exchanged or canceled. Certain exceptions can be made depending upon the circumstances.  This is left up to the sole discretion of On-Disk.com

Replacement Guarantee:

If a disk or other media arrives at your location and is un-readable due to shipping damage or quality of the burn and or data load, we will replace the damaged items. If the damage is due to shipping, we may ask that you return the items to us in it's original packaging so that we can asses our shipping procedures to ensure disks arrive at their location safely. If it's not apparent that un-readable media was damaged in shipping it may be returned in any appropriate media packaging.

There is no Replacement Guarantee for free Quick Ship discs, or other free promotional or courtesy items we may periodically offer throughout the year. We simply don't have the manpower to help troubleshoot or re-send free disc products.

21-Day Limit:

You must notify us within 21 days (3 weeks) from the ship-to date if there are any problems with your order. There will be no refunds or replacements made after 21 days.

If you're not sure what the ship date is, you'll find it within your order history. Simply visit the "My Account" link at the top of this page.

Help Ordering:

If you need help ordering please contact us so that we may assist.

More Information:

If you need more information about a product please contact the product Developer.  Their homepage information will be linked to from the Developer box in the menu on the left.

In some instances items are added to our catalog per customer request.  In such instances there will be no Developer Info box showing in the menu on the left, and any product information included in the listing was found on the product developers website, which you may want to visit for updated information. These Custom Requested listings are not maintained or updated by On-Disk.com.

Technical Support Options:

No-cost technical advice and support is available for nearly any piece of software, including operating systems. In many instances you will also have support available locally. The key is to know these options exist, and have enough basic information to be able to find them.
 
Whether looking for assistance with a computer operating system, or software running on the computer, there are outstanding free options available.
 
The first place we can begin seeking help is Online. Most operating system and software developers have Online forums in place specifically to assist you. These Online support forums allow you live and on-demand access to a wide range of technical guidance from industry experts. You can usually find support forums by visiting the developer's website. In some cases you can just do an internet search for the item you are needing help with, followed by the word "forum" to find relevant information. In most instances, for the products we have available, a link is provided for you under the "Support" tab on the listing page for that particular item.
 
The advantage of support forums is in the numbers and expertise...your situation can be viewed by many people, and only one needs to know the answer for you to find a solution. Online support forums are also followed, in most instances, by those who actually write the piece of software, or have a hand in developing the operating system. These folks are the "real-deal", not just an hourly paid employee on the other end of a phone somewhere.
 
Nearly every Linux, BSD, and Open Solaris distribution has a user forum to help with any problems that may come up. There are also several very good general content forums such as :http://www.linuxquestions.org and the Nixcraft Linux Tech Support Forum - great places to get help with just about every operating system other than Microsoft Windows, as well as applications that run on them. For the more technically adventurous there are forums such as The UNIX and Linux Forums and http://www.unixforum.co.uk/.
 
MAC users have the great MAC OSX support forum available to them, as well as the Apple Discussions, and MAC Forums.

And don't feel left out if you use Microsoft Windows, you have Online support forums at your disposal as well, but you do need to be on the lookout for forums created just to sell you antivirus or spyware solutions. The most reputable is the Microsoft Forums. For assistance with a non-microsoft product under Windows you may sometimes get better results at other locations such as the Tech Support Forums.
 
Another great place to get free technical support is through local user groups. Since the early days of computing groups of people have been getting together to explore all the geeky things they can do with their computers. In the past few years the number of user groups, and members of existing groups, has exploded fueled by the growing popularity of Linux and and open source software.
 
There are several types of computer user groups, and to find ones that meet near you. A quick internet search can help find a group near you. For instance a simple search like linux user group gives excellent results. I selected Linux User Group (also known as LUG) because from my experience a Linux user group can, and usually will, assist with just about any computer or gadget related problem you might have. LUGs normally have regular meetings which everyone is welcome to attend, as well as "Install Fests" periodically throughout the year. An install fest is an event where they will even install your Linux selection onto your computer for you, as well as give you advice on which distribution may best suit your circumstances.
 
Although it's great to have face to face conversations with the people who are helping you, the majority of assistance members give each other usually takes place on a mailing list, which offers real-time answers to questions. Using the mailing list for support can be a great lifeline if you happen to live some distance from the nearest group and can't attend regular meetings.

Product Licensing:

Product Licensing terms are set by the individual software developers.  Please see the Developer's homepage for complete licensing information.  Their Developer's homepage is linked to from the Developer info box in the menu on the left.

In some instances items are added to our catalog per customer request.  In such instances there will be no Developer Info box showing in the menu on the left, and any product information included in the listing was found on the product developers website, which you may want to visit for updated information. Licensing terms of all Custom Requested items appearing in our catalog allow for re-distribution under their terms which we must honor.

Disclaimer (CYA)::

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE OWNER, DEVELOPERS, CONTRIBUTORS, ON-DISK.COM, OR WEBPATH TECHNOLOGIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.