My Technology Guide

I triple boot my system with Windows XP, Windows 7 and Ubuntu but I also like to test other Linux distributions. Most of the time, to test the other operating system and distributions, I use VirtualBox or VMware to virtualize them. But for those Linux distributions that offers Live CD/DVD option, I use my USB flash drive to test them live. This saves me time as I don't have to first configure the virtual machine and install the Linux distro to test it. In my previous articles, I covered two softwares, UNetbootin and Multiboot USB Menu that helps me to make the distros ready to be booted directly off my USB flash device.

Another, very good utility that helps me create persistent storage on my flash drive is Pendrive Linux's Universal USB Installer. What I meant when I said "persistent storage"? It means that you'll actually have some permanent storage space in your flash drive to save things like your files and preferences, instead of having a clone of your disc image in your flash drive.

Multiboot USB menu developed by PendriveLinux.com helps a user to easily boot into multiple ISO files from a USB flash drive. Multiboot USB is a very easy to use application that helps you format and prepare your USB drive to boot into multiple supported ISO disk images.

At present Multiboot USB supports a number of Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, DSL, etc. and other ISO that helps in carrying out administrative and system tasks like Memtest86+, Parted Magic, Ultimate Boot CD, etc. The complete list updated by the developers is available at this page. The page also provides direct download links to the ISO it supports.

Mozilla Thunderbird is a very popular desktop email client. Thunderbird email software was recently updated by its developers, Mozilla, to version 3. The update brought many new features and notable changes like better email account integration and configuration options, global search option, etc.

The next version of Thunderbird will be version 3.1 and the first alpha release, codenamed "Lanikai Alpha 1" confirms this. Mozilla has asked interested users to test the new alpha release version of the email client and give their opinion. The developer has also warned anyone from installing the email client in a productive environment as it is an alpha version that can contain bugs and other performance issues.