Kick-start your week with four easy (but still cool) tricks on your Linux desktop. Install the media server you've always wanted but never got around to doing, or fine-tune your hardware to squeeze out a few more hours of battery power ... All this an more in this week's How To Roundup. Oh, and send us your favourite Linux tricks.

"...As always, new version of Ubuntu is better than previous. But probably this version did the most powerful step forward than any other. I will strongly recommend my friend, who is using another operating system, to settle on the Ubuntu gutsy now, because most of the major barriers for newbies are gone..."

"...Under the hood, users will find the Linux 2.6.22 kernel powering up both the client (desktop) and server versions. This is supported by GCC 4.1.2 and glibc 2.6..."

This document explains how to set up the VMware Tools in the following guest operating systems: Ubuntu 7.04, Fedora 7, PCLinuxOS 2007 and Debian Etch. Installing VMware Tools in your guest operating systems will help maximize performance, provide mouse synchronization and copy & paste functionality.

The gnome main menu applet was created as another effort for people to try and use awn and get rid of all their gnome bars. Well as another stride in this direction more has been added to this applet.

"I think Operator is giving people a new way to interact with data on the Web," Kaply told InternetNews.com. "It's a variation on what some people call 'instant mashups.' The idea is that rather than having to rely on other people to integrate data on multiple Web sites via traditional mashups, tools like Operator can provide the end-user a way to instantly pass data between multiple Web sites."

Powertop is a command-line tool released by Intel that shows you the power consumption of the applications running on your system. It works best on notebooks with Intel mobile processors and can help you find out the programs that put a strain on your notebook battery.