Thinking of installing Ubuntu

[Blongs]

I'm currently running win7 Home Premium and was thinking about checking out linux. I've never used linux and don't think I've ever even seen linux in use. However I have a few questions,

Is it worth it?

Is it safe to install in a dual boot with Win7?

I'm running 64 bit windows, should I install 64 bit Ubuntu?

What is the best installation method, install right to a clean partition or use wobi?

Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance

 

[Tews]

If you want to try Linux, use the "wubi" installer, included with the distribution file ... this will install linux inside of windows, and it will uninstall like any other windows programs... What ever flavor of Linux you choose.. ( I suggest Ubuntu ) you will need to download the 64bit version.. Just remember that Linux is not windows... so dont expect it to run the same way that Windows does... Have fun with it and let us know how it goes...

Get Ubuntu here ....

 

[bobland]

I ran linux for 3 years. The only reason I left it was the lack of programs that I needed. In the 3 years I ran it I only vaguely remember 1 crash. As Tews said, it is not Windows and requires a different mindset. If you like to tinker with your system then try it. I also recommend going with Ubuntu as it has the widest support of all linux distributions.

Some other good ones are Knoppix, puppy, Arch - which some say is the best, Suse, gentoo - which is a difficult install.

Ubuntu is smart enough to know that Windows is on your system. However, if you decide to uninstall it you may find it a lot more complex because of the location of the mbr.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello Blongs.



The easiest way to do away with boot issues between Windows and Linux is to use the BIOS one time boot menu to select which OS to boot at system startup.

If you have 2 separate Hard Disk Drives (HDD) and have one or the other installed to one HDD and you want to install the other; disconnect the HDD with the first OS installed on it and leave the HDD you want to install the second OS to connected.

Install the OS to the connected HDD and when complete and the system is booting good, power down and reconnect the second HDD with the first OS on it.

This way the OSs will boot independently of each other and there will be no boot conflicts between the 2 separate OSs to have to sort later.

 

[brj]

i ran ubuntu for several years on desktop machines and laptops. it worked quite well on the desktops, but it's another story on the laptops.
i had problems with suspend/resume and battery life. these issues made me install windows 7 on all of my machines.

try ubuntu using a live cd or dualboot.
but be aware: it's not windows !

 

[bobland]

One of the sweet things about Ubuntu is it installs everything. Printers, scanners, video drivers, monitor drivers, mouse drivers and anything that's connected to your computer. You are automatically connected to the internet.

Windows kinda leaves you in the dump after you install and it's up to you to find your own drivers.

 

[pparks1]

The wubi installer is the best way to go at first. Mostly because it doesn't leave GRUB on the MBR if you later decide to remove it.

As far as being worth it, it depends upon what you do and your level of computer interest. I really like Linux and use it quite a lot. It's solid, it's free, and it can do tons of things. But as others have said, it's not Windows, it doesn't work like Windows and most of the things that you know about Windows aren't applicable in this environment.

Ubuntu is a solid distro and great for beginners.

 

[eldinv]

One of the sweet things about Ubuntu is it installs everything. Printers, scanners, video drivers, monitor drivers, mouse drivers and anything that's connected to your computer. You are automatically connected to the internet.

Windows kinda leaves you in the dump after you install and it's up to you to find your own drivers.

Not entirely correct. All things come down to hardware; newer hardware in Windows 7 needs nothing. Windows will automatically install the drivers you need and everything works right out of the box or installation.

Back in Ubuntu 7.10 I believe, when I first tried Linux, I couldn't get my USB Wifi adapter to work, mostly because it was old.

 

[Marrea]

I'm currently running win7 Home Premium and was thinking about checking out linux. I've never used linux and don't think I've ever even seen linux in use. However I have a few questions,

Ask ten Linux users for advice, and you’ll get ten different answers!

Is it worth it?

That depends on what sort of person you are. Do you like a challenge? Are you interested in finding out more about how computers work? Are you patient? Are you determined? It doesn’t really matter which distro you choose, something, somewhere, will not work and many people simply give up at the first hurdle. You will have to be prepared to spend a lot of time visiting forums and googling to sort out problems. For instance, I recently installed Ubuntu 10.04 alongside Windows 7 on my new laptop and everything worked fine - apart from the fact that, although I could hear sound through headphones, nothing was coming through the laptop’s speakers. After a certain amount of research I discovered that the answer was to upgrade a particular sound program called ALSA - but even after getting that far further research was then required to find out how to perform the upgrade.

As other posters have stated, Linux is not Windows and I would strongly advise you to read the article at http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

I should also like to quote from another article which I read back in 2003 when I was taking my first tentative steps into Linux:

“If you are an average Joe who uses his PC just for typing documents, watching movies, surfing the Web and listening to music, catch the first train back to Windows Land. Linux is not for you. On the other hand, if you are a born explorer with a burning desire to understand how your operating system works and to be able to control how it works, `Welcome aboard'.

But Linux is not all cakewalk. Watch your step, for it is no merry stroll we take. It is more of journey, which will lead you right into the innards of your O/S.”

Those words “for it is no merry stroll we take” could not be more true and have remained with me ever since!! But I am patient, I am determined, I like a challenge, I love problem-solving, and I cannot begin to describe the elation I felt when I first successfully compiled a Linux program from source. I love Linux.

Is it safe to install in a dual boot with Win7?

Yes, but do not forget to back up all your Windows stuff first and if running Windows is important to you make sure you have some way of recovering your system should something go wrong during Linux installation. As all you seem to want to do for starters is “check it out”, I would suggest you get a live Linux CD (which runs direct from the CD and doesn’t alter your hard drive in any way) and see what you think of it using that. No way will it be as good as a native hard drive install but it will give you a general feel for what Linux is like.

I'm running 64 bit windows, should I install 64 bit Ubuntu?

Doesn’t really matter. 32 bit versions of Linux will run quite happily on 64 bit computers.

What is the best installation method, install right to a clean partition or use wobi?

I would say install to a clean partition. I have never used Wubi but from what I have heard it either works or it doesn’t. You are not going to get full performance from a compromise situation like this. It’s a good way to try out Linux without altering your hard drive, but you could achieve the same (ie trying it out) either from a live CD or in a virtual machine.

Quite frankly if you are a complete beginner with Linux the only 100% guaranteed safe way to go about it is not to dual boot at all but to use a separate dedicated computer. This is what I did when I started. I had been using Windows 98 and decided the time was right to move to Windows XP so I bought a brand new machine for that, which then left my old Win 98 machine available for experimenting with Linux. And I was glad I did, because believe me - before you have built up enough experience to fully understand the way Linux works - you will run into problems and there is nothing more frustrating than not being able to get into your Windows partition!

If you don’t have the luxury of a second computer then I would definitely recommend Bare Foot Kid’s advice about installing Linux to a separate hard drive. On my desktop computer which has two hard drives I run Windows 7 on one and Ubuntu 10.04 on the other. Windows 7 is the default and if I want to go into Ubuntu, at boot up I simply press F8 when the Asus logo appears and I can choose it from the Boot Device screen which appears. So both operating systems are completely separate in their own space and no MBR problems.

As regards choice of distro, I would recommend either Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS, both of which are very Linux “newbie” friendly.

And lastly a word of warning. There are basically two types of Linux people. The first is very friendly and understanding, has almost infinite patience and will go to great lengths to help a beginner. Fortunately there are plenty in this first category. The second, who has a habit of never missing a chance to bad mouth Windows, will quickly dismiss you if you don’t immediately understand what they have failed to explain properly, ie they forget that they too were beginners once. They will quickly lose patience, imply you are an idiot and suggest you run back to “Microshaft”, as they love to call it. Unfortunately there are quite a few who fall into this second category. If you run into any, don't let them put you off.

Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance

These are purely my own personal thoughts, conclusions drawn from seven years of Linux use. Not to be taken as gospel. Use at your own risk, as they say.

 

[madtownidiot]

If I were to sum up ubuntu in a single sentence, It's a relatively user-friendly and completely customizable operating system for people with an above-average skillset who don't want to pay for another copy of windows.