The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Since I've never seen it posted here, I thought I'd mention it... Likewise, every time someone asks about installing Linux, people suggest burning an Ubuntu Live CD...

If you want a "dual-boot" of your Windows OS and Ubuntu Linux on your machine without ever having to reformat/partition your hard drive, just install:

Wubi

Wubi installs just like any other Windows app (with an easy-to-follow Wizard). It takes a user-allocated amount of space on your drive and uses it as a psuedo-partition. It also creates a boot option so that when you start your computer, you can choose Windows or Linux.

The best part is that it doesn't actually do anything to your hard drive. If you screw it up, you can just uninstall it via the Windows Add/Remove Programs Control Panel and then reinstall.

And, Wubi is a fully-functioning version of Ubuntu Linux too -- all Repositories work, etc.

So, forget the Live CD. Just install Wubi!

Tim

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Cool. I'll have to try that out.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

I am downloading it right now; I´ve heard from it before, but heard too that has some problems once installed ...is it stable?

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

If its create a boot option you can screw things up.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Ummm. No iApps no move. In any event, I can use Qemu and run Linux, windows or whatever right there on my Mac and have been for well over a year now.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

I just use vmware on the mac and run whatever os I want. :D

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

How does the perfomance of Ubuntu under wubi compare to Ubuntu under VMware?

I am guessing that it will be faster?

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Cool getting people to try it, but I don't agree. I've been running Ubuntu for 11 months now and the only way I managed to do it was by killing Windows off entirely. I've done the dual boot thing before and I always found myself booting into Windows for something or rather until finally I wasn't booting Linux at all.

The biggest block is changing your mindset. It's like trying to quit smoking if you really don't want to quit. Take Photoshop for example. The Gimp is a fine alternative for most people(<-look! A qualifying statement!), but it's not Photoshop. I had to get my head around that before I became comfortable with the Gimp and dealt with the frustrations of some things not being where I thought they should be.

Still, I'd hope people can wipe the Linux fan boy forces aside and actually give it a shot. I've been happy as hell since I dumped Windows. MAC users would be a harder sell since they're already running a Unix based OS.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

I absolutely agree with this. A good number of people that claim Linux is not as good as Windows are really saying it does not work like Windows. So the first thing to recognize is Linux is not Windows and no , it will not run Windows applications. There are equivalent apps on Linux and this page does a decent job of listing those equivalent apps. The best part is almost all of the equivalent apps cost $0 and you do not even have to try to keep bunch of license keys around just so you will be able to reinstall your app in future if you ever need to.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Linux is cool. Linux is awesome. Linux is powerful. Linux can do more than any OS out there.

That said my primary work machine is staying a Macbook pro. It requires less work to keep it working smoothly and the integration of all the pieces of the OS into the core utilities is very valuable. Plus the nice hardware features like the light sensors just work. Linux could do everything my Mac does but it would require a lot of work to get it to that point.

If some smart geek pioneer wants to go through all the headaches and create a "perfect" distro for my macbook where everything "just works" then I might just wipe Leopard and give it a try. But every time I google on converting my system I get lots of pages of frustrated geeks that have to manually tweak things or live with annoyances.

Next laptop I'll probably buy a prebuilt linux system.

David

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

cool. So do we know if the flasher app works using this Wubi? VMWare and Qemu would not work for me because of the lack of proper USB support.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Huh? VMWare Fusion on Mac supports USB just fine, and VMWare Player does too, AFAIK. (I'm using Windows XP under VMWare to do embedded systems development and let me tell you, those applications are picky about hardware...)

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Earlier versions of VMWare only supported USB 1, but the current version supports USB 2 just fine.

You do have to be careful though that you aren't running an old virtual machine: virtual machines built for VMWare 5.x won't support usb 2 even if run with a version of VMWare which does support it.
The free VMWare Player will play the old vm formats but it cannot convert them to the newer format.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

VMWare workstation 5.5, at least for Linux, supports USB 2 just fine.

R.
==

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Wubi is not a "real" dual boot... It just creates an option during Windows startup -- Wubi os ONLY an installed app that can be uninstalled and reinstalled as much as you'd like (and does nothing to your hard drive).

It runs as fast as a dedicated Ubuntu Linux machine (and much faster than VMWare) and it's been very stable for me for months.

And, yes, the Tablet Flasher app works under Wubi.

-T.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Talk about a timely thread! Thanks for posting this. I am just so sick and tired of Vista and the Microsoft mindset.

Hardly a day goes by but Vista informs me that a system file has been modified and then it shuts me out of my computer. So far, a reboot sorts the issue but I feel that it is only a matter of time before I am locked out permanently. This is just outrageous, but then I am sure many reading this will know what I mean.

I have spent the past few weeks trying out Linux Live CD’s, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandrive, SuSE and the like. At the moment I am daunted by the prospect of partitioning and dual booting – a process I know from experience to be fraught with potential for problems.

Wubi could be the interim solution I need in getting me up and running with Linux while keeping access to Windows apps until such time as I have investigated the Linux alternatives. Reading the Wubi faq’s, you can use LVPM to move the virtual file to a dedicated partition whenever you wish so I can take my time over that.

I shall get stuck in this evening.

Thanks again for what I know is not strictly an IT matter but just so useful in the broader scheme of things Linux.

Re: The easiest way for Windows (and soon, Mac) users to move to Ubuntu Linux...
 

Thanks for the tip Tim, it's fun playing with this -- and beats having to hunt down my unlabeled Knoppix CD next time I need to reflash :-)