Testing IE9 in Ubuntu with VirtualBox setup script

Unfortunately for web developers some people still use internet explorer(IE) which means we need a way to test our pages in it.  There is no good way to install IE9 directly in Ubuntu so the best thing to do is set up a windows virtual machine and test your pages in that.  Fortunately Microsoft provides free VHD images of windows with various versions IE for free to developers(with a 90 licence).

To make this setup easier I have created a small bash script which does all the downloading, installation and configuration for you.

The script works as follows:
1. Downloads the RARed VHD file from microsoft.com
2. Installs unrar
3. extracts the VHD file
4. Installs VirtualBox
5. Configures a new Windows VM
6. Starts the new Windows VM

You can download the script here:
http://ubuntuone.com/458mPt4YJsB9rBiHEHhwGu

Place the script in your home folder.

Give the script execute permissions:
chmod +x install_win7_IE9_VM.sh

Run the script(and kick back because it takes a while to download and extract everything):
./install_win7_IE9_VM.sh

After running the script the first time you can just run your Windows VM from the VirtualBox GUI as normal.


NOTE: the Windows password is "Password1"

Fix Missing Menus in FileZilla in Gnome 3.6 with Ubuntu 12.10

After doing a fresh install of 12.10 Quantal on my laptop and installing Gnome 3.6(my DE of choice) I noticed the File etc. menus wee missing from FileZilla and SVN Workbench.  After a bit of googling I found a solution that works for me.

Open a terminal and enter the following:

sudo su

then:

echo "export UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0" > /etc/X11/Xsession.d/81ubuntumenuproxy

then:

exit

Now reboot and the menus should appear as normal.

NOTE: this solution will also disable global menus in unity if you wish to undo the change run the following:

sudo rm /etc/X11/Xsession.d/81ubuntumenuproxy

Enjoy Gnome 3.6 on Ubuntu 12.10

Source: http://www.webupd8.org/2011/03/disable-appmenu-global-menu-in-ubuntu.html