Date: 09/15/07 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: software, html, linux

Those who have been resisting Linux will have their last excuses removed by the following program:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/Wubi.shtml

Excuses excuses excuses

1. I don't have a CDROM drive / I don't want to burn CDs / I don't HAVE CDs

Wubi downloads and mounts Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04 directly from hard disk. No optical drives required.

2. I don't want to format another partition

Wubi doesn't need another partition. It creates a virtual disk volume inside your Windows partition that's nothing but a FILE.

3. Undoing the Linux is a pain in the ass

Not with Wubi, because the uninstall program undoes the dual boot and removes the boot entry painlessly. It does it from the Vista bootloader too, so it could go back from Vista/Ubuntu OR Vista/XP/Ubuntu tripleboot with equal ease (yes, Wubi is the easiest way to triple boot Vista/XP/Ubuntu that I have ever seen. Note: If triplebooting, do not go directly to Ubuntu on the Vista boot menu after first boot; Go to XP entry, then finish the install from the "Ubuntu" bootloader entry in the XP bootloader)

4. What if I want to reinstall? I'd have to download all over again

Oh no you don't. Tell Wubi to save backup ISO when uninstalling. Reinstallation is as easy as telling the install to install on the same drive letter again.

5. Too much trouble to install on multiple machines on my home network

What kind of dumb excuse is that?? But anyways, I discovered this trick myself- Uninstall, copy the "wubi-save" backup directory created by the uninstall to all the computers you want, and install on all the machines. Wubi does not care about the difference between reinstalled and copied backups.

6. Nvidia cards are fine but my ATI card dies

Okay. You're kind of semi-out of luck. ATI bites. But you can still try using Envy to work around the card http://thedarkmaster.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/install-painlessly-nvidia-or-ati-proprietary-drivers-on-ubuntu-edgy-dapper/

If that doesn't work, try Ubuntu Ultimate Edition (I may have to do that on my new gaming machine because of the @#$% X1900GT locking up the screen before I could do anything in an xwindow): http://ubuntusoftware.info/faq.html

There. No more excuses. If you're on Windows and still haven't tried Linux, hop to it. I used Wubi on my dual-procesor PIII server and it was easy as cake, in some respects even easier than Windows.

What, more?

7. Installing like that would make it work slowly

It didn't "work slowly" on mine. I still watched hi-resolution anime fansub using the included player (after some updating). The funny thing is that had I tried to use windows programs on that machine to play the same file it would stutter badly. The Linux way of handling things is probably more efficient.

8. I can't access files in Windows partition / Windows network from Linux right away

You can. Ubuntu played nice with Windows after Wubi installed it.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1106901.html