Adding Lightning to Thunderbird

Last week, we began the migration from Outlook in Windows to Thunderbird in Linux. We transferred over the basic data to the open source email client. Now we’ll install a calendar, task manager, and note feature. We’ll also figure out how to export our existing Outlook data and import it into Thunderbird. Lastly, we’ll set up auto signatures. Let’s get started!

Read the full article by Eric Geier

SHARE:                                     

KEYWORDS: calendar, email client, export, import, Linux, note, open source, Outlook, task manager, Thunderbird, Windows

Shy on Bling, Loaded With Useful Features

Moving from the Microsoft and commercial software world to the open community means you’ll need to find open source or Linux alternatives to the many Windows applications you’ve been using. In this tutorial we’ll concentrate on your email client. More specifically, we’re going to discuss moving from Outlook to the cross-platform email application Mozilla Thunderbird. At first glance, Thunderbird may seem too basic and lacking features. However, it still can be a great Outlook alternative. We’ll discover how to transfer over your settings, mail, notes, tasks, and more.

Read the full article by Eric Geier

SHARE:                                     

KEYWORDS: email client, Eric Geier, Linux, mail, Microsoft, Mozilla Thunderbird, notes, open community, open source, Outlook, settings, tasks, Windows

How much does it cost to leave your TV on all day? What about turning your air conditioning 1 degree cooler? Which uses more power every month — your fridge or your dishwasher? Is your household more or less energy efficient than similar homes in your neighborhood?

Our lack of knowledge about our own energy usage is a huge problem, but also a huge opportunity for us all to save money and fight global warming by reducing our power usage. Studies show that access to your household’s personal energy information is likely to save you between 5–15% on your monthly bill, and the potential impact of large numbers of people achieving similar efficiencies is even more exciting. For every six households that save 10% on electricity, for instance, we reduce carbon emissions as much as taking one conventional car off the road (see sources and calculation).

At Google we’re committed to helping enable a future where access to personal energy information helps everyone make smarter energy choices. To get started, we’re working on a tool called Google PowerMeter which will show consumers their electricity consumption in near real-time in a secure iGoogle Gadget. We think PowerMeter will offer more useful and actionable feedback than complicated monthly paper bills that provide little detail on consumption or how to save energy.

But Google PowerMeter is just a start; it will take lots of different groups working together to create what the world really needs: a path to smarter power.

SHARE:                                     

KEYWORDS: energy consumption, energy saving, Google, Google PowerMeter, iGoogle Gadget

The war over desktop operating systems has raged, with each side proclaiming the unrivaled superiority of its chosen OS. Computer world asked four experts to lay out their best arguments in support of their desktop operating systems of choice.

Linux: Light on its feet and ready to strut its stuff

If running Adobe Premiere is the most important thing in your life, or you want to play Halo, Linux isn’t going to do it for you, at least not at the moment. While most Windows software can run under Linux in one fashion or another, applications that make extensive use of hardware drivers or high-end graphics may not work right. But for everything else, Linux is definitely the way to go.
Unlike Mac OS and Windows, Linux is free as air and open to development by folks who are motivated by the desire to make the technology better, rather than by corporate tech farms whose real interest is the bottom line.
Linux is free, fast, small, powerful, stable and flexible. It will get you off the “new hardware every other year” life cycle and let you concentrate on being productive rather than playing nursemaid to your operating system. You almost certainly already have Linux in your home or business, even if you don’t know it.

Mac OS X: All you need in one dynamite package

If you want a simple-to-use computer that can run virtually any application you need on stylish hardware that gives you easy online access and instant connectivity to all types of satellite devices, just go to an Apple store and buy a Macintosh.
Apple capitalizes on its unique position as sole operating system designer, application developer, hardware engineer and media distributor, offering a seamless experience across its product lines and services. Macs may not “just work” exactly 100% of the time, but they sure work when I need them to.

Windows Vista: the best there is

Vista, the operating system that people love to hate. The system that has been blamed, it seems, for everything from global warming to the U.S. economic meltdown.
The conventional wisdom is flat-out wrong. Vista is a solid, hard-working operating system that will run whatever software you need with simplicity and grace. And it doesn’t suffer from the world of woes that affect its competitors.
If you want a safe, modern operating system that will run the software you want on reasonably priced hardware without requiring an advanced degree in geekology, Windows Vista is the only way to go.

Windows XP: The people’s choice

Microsoft gamely touts increasing Vista adoption, but the backlash against XP’s successor is unprecedented.
The operating system should be like a referee — invisible and anonymous — and that’s exactly what XP does. It provides all the features I need in an environment that is completely familiar and easy to use.

SHARE:                                     

KEYWORDS: Apple store, Computer World, Linux, Mac OS X, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Operating System, Windows Vista, Windows XP