iT Rumors: Howto

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a class="lightboxIt" href="http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/12/27/DesktopAssignmentMenu.png" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Dock contextual menu in OS X" class="cnet-image" height="173" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/12/27/DesktopAssignmentMenu_270x173.png" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="270" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How to assign applications to desktops in OS X</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/02/22/FinderIconX_90x90.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" class="cnet-image" height="90" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/02/22/FinderIconX_90x90.png" style="border: 0px; cursor: move; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="90" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Applications in OS X are by default assigned to the current desktop, so if you open a program and then switch to a different desktop, the program's windows will stay on the current desktop. However, there are a couple of ways to change this, so specific programs open on a different desktop, or so they remain present on all desktops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first option is to assign a program to all desktops, which is the most straightforward option. To do this, simply add the program to the OS X Dock, then right-click it. In the contextual menu that appears, choose "All Desktops" in the "Assign To" section of the Options submenu. From now on when you open this program, its windows should always be on your screen, regardless of which desktop you switch to. This option may be useful for monitoring utilities such as Activity Monitor or the Finder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Finally, to undo these options for any program, you can right-click it and choose "All" in the "Assign to" contextual menu section. This will again have it be assigned to the active space only for its current session.The second option is to assign a program to a specific desktop, or "space." To do this, first invoke Mission Control (this can be done with the preassigned F-key configured on most <a href="http://www.cnet.com/apple-mac.html" section="luke_topic" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mac</a>keyboards), then go to the desktop of choice. Then right-click the application in the Dock and choose "This desktop" from the same contextual menu. Now, regardless of the desktop you are on, if you open or switch to this application, you will be switched to its assigned desktop, unless a its window has been manually moved to the current desktop. This can be useful for keeping programs grouped by type or by function, such as word processing and spreadsheet programs so your office work can be kept sequestered.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57616308-263/how-to-assign-applications-to-desktops-in-os-x/">CNET</a></span></i></div>

How to assign applications to desktops in OS X

How to assign applications to desktops in OS X Applications in OS X are by default assigned to the current desktop, so if you open a ...

<img alt="SteamOS desktop, cropped" class="attachment-full wp-post-image" height="353" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-desktop-featured-640x353.jpg" style="border-style: none; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;" width="640" /><br />
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Late on Friday, December 13, Valve released the first public version of SteamOS. As you would expect, SteamOS is currently very rough around the edges — it is essentially just a version of Debian 7.1 (Wheezy) that has Steam pre-installed. As it stands, I can’t really recommend that you to install SteamOS on some dedicated hardware — it would be a waste of time. If you’re interested in Valve’s latest machination, though, and toying with what might be the future of gaming, it’s well worth installing SteamOS in VirtualBox. That’s what I did — and I’ve written a guide on how to install SteamOS in VirtualBox, if you feel like doing the same.</div>
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Brute force</h3>
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To begin with, it’s definitely not easy to install SteamOS in VirtualBox. Valve clearly didn’t intend for you to do this; you can’t just mount an ISO and install it, like a normal Linux distro. That isn’t to say that this is for experts only, though — even if you’re a Linux or VirtualBox newbie, as long as you follow this guide to the letter, you should have a working SteamOS installation within 30 minutes or so.</div>
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<em>[This guide is for Windows XP/7/8, but if you can find a tool to create ISOs from folders or zip files for your operating system, it would work for OS X and Linux as well.]</em></div>
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Begin by downloading everything. Grab the latest version of VirtualBox and install it (it may take some time.) Get <code>SteamOSInstaller.zip</code> from Valve. Download ISO Creator and install it.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: ISO Creator" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-172899" height="287" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-iso-creator.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="420" /></div>
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Extract <code>SteamOSInstaller.zip</code> into its own folder. Open ISO Creator. You can name the ISO whatever you like, just make sure you save the ISO in a sensible location. Select the folder that you extracted the zip file to. Hit Start and wait a minute or two while the ISO is created.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: Making a VirtualBox virtual hard drive" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-172907" height="410" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-virtualbox-creat-virtual-machine.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="362" /></div>
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Now open VirtualBox. This bit is somewhat complex with lots of little steps and gotchas, so be careful. Create a New virtual machine. Give it any name. Type = Linux. Version = Debian (64 bit). Click Next. Pick any amount of memory (1GB is sensible if you’re just going to fool around; 4GB if you want to try out DOTA 2 or something). Accept the default options on the next few pages of the wizard, and choose “Dynamically allocated” when prompted. Pick a hard drive size of around 50GB.</div>
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Once you’ve created the virtual machine, select it on the right hand side and enter Settings. Click System and select Enable EFI. Click Display and select Enable 3D Acceleration. Slide the Video Memory slider up to 128MB. Click Network and select Bridged Adapter from the Attached to drop-down. Click USB and use the + icon on the right to add your USB keyboard and mouse (if applicable).</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: VirtualBox, selecting the installation ISO" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-172908" height="420" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-virtualbox-select-storage.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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Finally, head to Storage, click the optical disc icon under Controller: IDE, then hit the optical disc icon on the right hand side (see image). Click Choose A Virtual CD/DVD Disk File, then find the ISO file that you made earlier. Click OK to return to the main VirtualBox interface.</div>
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If you receive an error at this point, it’s probably because you haven’t enabled virtualization in BIOS. Enabling virtualization is beyond the scope of this how-to, but if you Google the name of your motherboard and “how to enable virtualization” it’s pretty easy.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="SteamOS: Pre-install stage to load EFI" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172916" height="522" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-install-efi-boot-640x522.png" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></span></h3>
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Start the SteamOS machine!</h3>
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Now, click Start and pray. If all goes to plan, you’ll be greeted with a prompt that looks like the image above. After <code>2.0 Shell></code> type the following: <code>FS0:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX640</code>. If you can’t type the backslash (<code>\</code>) for some reason (I couldn’t), change your system’s keyboard to US layout, then use the On-Screen Keyboard app to type the <code>\</code>. Press Enter, and you should be greeted with the first sign that you’re installing SteamOS.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: EFI boot screen" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172915" height="522" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-install-automated-install-start-640x522.png" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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From this screen, press Enter to begin the automated install. Don’t worry about the WILL ERASE DISK! warning — VirtualBox prevents SteamOS from changing anything on your local filesystem.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: Installation process" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172913" height="522" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-install-process-1-640x522.png" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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The installation process is automatic and takes a few minutes.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: GRUB boot menu, recovery mode" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172911" height="547" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steam-os-recovery-mode-640x547.png" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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Once the automated install is complete the system will reboot and you’ll be greeted with the above screen. Select the second option, recovery mode. The system will boot up and you’ll end up at a Linux command prompt.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: VirtualBox additions" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172910" height="522" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-vboxadds-640x522.png" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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Install VirtualBox Guest Additions</h3>
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So that SteamOS is actually usable as a virtualized OS (clipboard sharing, shared folders, better mouse pointer integration), you must now install VirtualBox’s Guest Additions. From the command prompt type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one.</div>
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<li><code>mount /media/cdrom</code></li>
<li><code>sh /media/cdrom/VboxLinuxAdditions.run</code></li>
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This will take a few moments to install, then type <code>reboot</code> and press Enter.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: Login" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172909" height="497" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steamos-login-640x497.png" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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Almost there…</h3>
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This time around, don’t touch the GRUB bootloader and your system will automatically boot into a graphical interface — SteamOS! Well, almost. You’ll be greeted with a login prompt. Keep Default Xsession selected. The username and password are both <code>steam</code>.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: Usual Debian applications" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172918" height="471" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steam-os-usual-debian-apps-640x471.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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For some reason, the Return To Steam icon on the desktop doesn’t work; you need to click Activities in the top left, then Applications, and scroll down to Steam. The Steam app will update, and then you’ll be greeted with the usual login prompt. Log in, hit Big Picture in the top right corner… and voila! You now have a (virtualized) Steam Machine!</div>
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From this point on, you’re pretty much on your own. I haven’t explored SteamOS much yet, but to be honest it doesn’t look like there’s much to discover: Right now, I think it’s just Debian with Steam pre-installed. It’s probably a good idea to have SteamOS installed now, though, so that you can take a look at exciting features — such as local game streaming — when they’re rolled out in 2014.</div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: Big Picture mode, DOTA 2" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172922" height="497" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steam-os-dota-2-big-screen-mode-640x497.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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<img alt="SteamOS: World of Goo, running in SteamOS! omg" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-172920" height="471" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/steam-os-world-of-go-playing-640x471.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></div>
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Personally, I installed World of Goo and played it for a while. 3D performance in VirtualBox isn’t great, so don’t expect to do a lot of gaming in your VirtualBox install of SteamOS.</div>
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And now… time to install SteamOS properly on my main gaming PC so that I can do some benchmarking on a real Steam Machine! Presumably, if Valve wants to lure people away from Windows to SteamOS/Linux, game performance under SteamOS better be pretty darn good…</div>
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<i>Via: <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/172890-how-to-install-steamos-in-virtualbox">ExtremeTech</a></i></div>

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