Thursday, July 3, 2025

AnduinOS: a Ubuntu-based Linux for folks who want a Windows-like desktop

AnduinOS is a custom Ubuntu-based Linux distribution that aims to facilitate developers transitioning from Windows to Linux by maintaining familiar operational habits and workflows.  https://www.anduinos.com/
"The ISO is just 2.0GB in size. Similar to Ubuntu, it is simple to install and can meet your daily needs without additional configuration or complicated operations."

AnduinOS:  https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=anduin
"AnduinOS is an Ubuntu-based distribution which provides a GNOME desktop which has been themed and styled to resemble Windows 11. The project provides a smaller ISO file than its parent with each supported language split into a separate ISO. Snap support, which is included in Ubuntu, has been removed from AnduinOS."

AnduinOS 1.3.3: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/anduinos.html
"AnduinOS is a free, Ubuntu-based Linux distro that's tailor-made for folks who want a Windows-like desktop without Microsoft breathing down their neck. It's lightweight (around 2 GB), privacy-respecting (no telemetry), and works great on bare metal or in a virtual machine. Runs on pretty much any modern x86-64 machine."

"On a USB stick: Use Rufus if you're on Windows. Linux folks can fire up dd. It's a regular ISO, nothing tricky."

"In a VM: Installation on our VMWare Workstation was super easy and took about 10 minutes. Runs well in VirtualBox or VMware. Set the VM type to Ubuntu 64-bit, give it 2 GB of RAM and at least 20 GB of disk space, then mount the ISO. One heads-up: once the installation finishes and you reboot, make sure you remove the ISO from the virtual drive. If you don't, it will try to boot the installer again or hang. The same goes for physical installs; unplug that USB before restarting."

"Dual-booting with Windows: You'll need to prep a little. Make sure Windows is using UEFI, then disable Fast Boot and Secure Boot in the BIOS. Shrink your Windows partition, boot into AnduinOS, and let the installer take care of the rest. The GRUB bootloader usually handles things well, but always backup first, just in case."

AnduinOS:  https://github.com/Anduin2017/AnduinOS
"AnduinOS is a custom Ubuntu-based Linux distribution that aims to facilitate developers transitioning from Windows to Linux by maintaining familiar operational habits and workflows"

 Want to ditch Windows? This Linux distro makes that transition easy - If you're looking to make the leap from Windows to Linux and would like to stick with something familiar, AnduinOS has your back:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/want-to-ditch-windows-this-linux-distro-makes-that-transition-easy/
"I discovered there was no way to easily share a folder over my home network. ... which means sharing folders over the network would require you to install a few pieces of the puzzle."

"To anyone developing a Linux distribution to ease the transition from Windows to Linux, I would say: Consider adding the following software:

    LibreOffice
    Slack
    Spotify
    A cloud-based note-taking app (such as Standard Notes)
    A cloud sync app (such as Insync)
    Geary or Evolution (email app)

I realize some of the above are proprietary, but they have become the standard, especially for work, so unless your distribution is marketed as 100 percent FOSS (free, open-source software), there's no reason to ignore such apps."

Monday, June 30, 2025

Free and Open-Source Artificial Intelligence Software (2025)

The Best 7 Free and Open-Source Artificial Intelligence Software:
https://www.goodfirms.co/artificial-intelligence-software/blog/best-free-open-source-Artificial-Intelligence-software
"TensorFlow is an open-source artificial intelligence software that helps you develop and train Machine learning models. It presents the library for high-performance numerical computation. Across a variety of platforms (CPUs, GPUs, TPUs) this free AI software allows easy deployment of computation due to its flexible architecture.
...
You will find the primary use of this software in voice/sound recognition, text-based applications, image recognition, video detection, and time-series data. The time series algorithms of TensorFlow are mainly used in the field of finance, accounting, and enterprise /resource planning."


Chat with AI without privacy concerns -
Jan is an open source ChatGPT-alternative that runs 100% offline.

https://jan.ai/


The best open-source AI models: All your free-to-use options explained:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-best-open-source-ai-models-all-your-free-to-use-options-explained/
"Running open-source Gen AI models requires specific hardware, software environments, and toolsets for model training, fine-tuning, and deployment tasks."


free AI training from IBM:  
https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-free-ai-training-from-ibm-could-boost-your-resume-in-10-hours/


Open Source Windows Artificial Intelligence Software:
https://sourceforge.net/directory/artificial-intelligence/windows/


Jarvis - Personal Assistant for Linux, macOS, & Windows:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/jarvis-personal-assist.mirror/
"Jarvis is a simple personal assistant for Linux, MacOS and Windows which works on the command line. He can talk to you if you enable his voice. He can tell you the weather, he can find restaurants and other places near you. He can do some great stuff for you. In order to start Jarvis just clone this repository and run python installer. Run Jarvis from anywhere by command Jarvis. You can start by typing help within the Jarvis command line to check what Jarvis can do for you. Plugins may be modified using the decorators @alias, @require and @complete."


GPT-4/o1 AI Assistant -
Open Source, Personal Desktop AI Assistant for Linux, Windows, and Mac with Chat, Vision, Agents, Image generation, Tools and commands, Voice control and more.
https://pygpt.net/
"Desktop AI Assistant for Linux, Windows and Mac, written in Python.
Works similarly to ChatGPT, but locally (on a desktop computer).
11 modes of operation ..."
"PyGPT supports a wide range of AI models, including o1, o3, GPT-4, GPT-4o, GPT-4 Vision, GPT-3.5, and DALL-E 3. It also integrates models via LlamaIndex, and Ollama—like Llama 3, Mistral, Google Gemini, xAI Grok, DeepSeek, Bielik, and Anthropic Claude. With internet search, speech synthesis and recognition, customizable prompts, conversation history, and plugin support, it provides a comprehensive AI toolkit for diverse tasks."






Friday, June 27, 2025

Password Manager Reviews 2025

The best password managers in 2025:
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-password-managers,review-3785.html#section-the-best-password-manager-overall
Best for iPhone:  "NordPass is a password manager with a simple, intuitive design from the company behind NordVPN. It's still a relatively new password manager compared to the competition but it has added a number of new features like a web vault, a standalone browser extension and biometric login support across all platforms in an effort to catch up.
...
In addition to its individual and family plan with support for up to six people, there's also a free tier. NordPass free allows you to store an unlimited number of passwords and it also comes with autofill capabilities, passkey support, secure notes and multifactor authentication. However, the free tier only allows you to stay logged in on one device at a time. NordPass' paid plans are a bit more expensive than the competition but frequent discounts can cut the cost of a subscription significantly."
58% off - NordPass Premium - 2 Years - $1.29/mth
43% off - NordPass Premium - 1 Year   - $1.69/mth
https://go.nordpass.io/aff_c?offer_id=507&aff_id=39632&url_id=26900


The Best Password Managers for 2025:  https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-password-managers#
"Best Premium Password Manager  - NordPass

FEATURED DEAL  -  Best Form-Filling Capabilities - RoboForm
Get 60% off Premium: just $0.99 per Month! at RoboForm

Best Free Password Manager  -  Proton Pass
$2.49 Per Month (50% Off 1 Year Pass Plus Plan) at Proton

Best for Frequent Travelers  -  1Password

Best Security Features  -  Dashlane"


Best Password Managers for the USA:  https://us.cybernews.com/lp/best-password-managers-us/

Open Source - Bitwarden - CNET  Best Password Manager in 2024
"Bitwarden is currently CNET's top pick for the best password manager... Bitwarden is a solid choice if you want a well-rounded premium password manager that's secure, transparent, budget friendly and easy to use -- or if you want a legitimately unlimited password management solution for free."

Also recommended for Ubuntu.

Best Cars for Road Trips in 2025 – Road & Track Expert Picks

There are some surprises here:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/rankings/g64772570/best-cars-for-road-trips/