A few Mountain Lion features in Ubuntu

Originally shared by Raphael “Speedy” Ndem

A few Mountain Lion features in Ubuntu

With the release of OS X Mountain Lion, owners of Apple branded computers are enjoying the additions the company has added to their so called world’s most advanced operating system. I’m not here to in any way dispute that claim, and while I do not use a Mac of any kind, I admit that I do love several UI elements of OS X, as well as a number of new features that the upgrade brings.

Jerry Hildenbrand stated "Save $20, and get an OS that runs better on that Mac" while referring to Ubuntu.. so I suppose this goes out to those who don't have a Mac, but admire some of the rather cosmetic features.

If you've only just decided to install Ubuntu, you may want to check out Nixie Pixel's Top 5 Things to Do After Installing Ubuntu.

These here are no game changers, but I do in fact enjoy using them and hope other Ubuntu newbies like myself will do too. As per Apple’s What’s New list...

Reminders
Alternative - Google Tasks Indicator - an app indicator that displays your 10 most recent Google tasks (therefore easy sync with your Android phone) on the Ubuntu panel.

How to install - http://goo.gl/eTtOl

Notes
I personally use Evernote (web client, or Nevernote/Nixnote if I’m offline) due to its multiplatform support but I’ll leave this down to user preference.

Messages
Alternative - DeskSMS, which lets you text from your phone number via your Gmail, Gtalk, or browser. You can also use your favorite IM client (e.g. Empathy, which integrates with the Ubuntu messaging applet) to send text messages from your phone number.

DeskSMS comes with a free 14-day trial, but costs $4.99 a year. Alternatively, you may use AirDroid, but you’d be limited to just your browser.

Play Store: - http://goo.gl/tA2m4 

Notification Centre
Alternative - Recent Notifications - a simple indicator applet that logs all notificaitons (Notify OSD) that show up on your screen, including those from the recently released Ubuntu Web Apps (http://goo.gl/DHYSy). see screenshot

How to install - http://goo.gl/Djqta (via OMG! Ubuntu!)

I have no interest in Power Nap, Dictation (although somewhat useful), Sharing (which may be carried out in a number of ways), Facebook integration (really? Really??) or Twitter integration.

Airplay Mirroring is one I’d love to see implemented as smoothly as Apple does it.

Game Centre is fun but I suppose I can wait till Steam finish their job.

Gatekeeper - a little common sense when downloading anything should be more than enough.

Safari - I use Chrome/Chromium so Google's got me covered.

Please feel free to add alternatives in the comments, and do share if you think this may interest others.

#MountainLion   #Ubuntu   #Linux