Ubuntu on Windows
I’m putting myself through college, so everything I make goes towards books and tuition, etc. I have a Windows PC, but I have an interest in learning Linux. I don’t have any money to buy a dedicated PC, but the geek in me is dying to get a peek at Linux. What should I do?
There’s a free application called Wubi that allows you to install Ubuntu on your PC. It’s not running under a virtual environment - it’s installed within a file, so you don’t have to worry about partitioning your drive. After you install and reboot, you’ll get an option to choose Ubuntu or Windows. This will give you the ability to play with Ubuntu, and if you decide you don’t like it, you can always uninstall.
Note: When installing, it will ask you to reboot. At that time, you’ll see the two options - Ubuntu and Windows. Log into Ubuntu, and there will be some additional installation time. After it finishes that, reboot again and you’re good to go.
I asked William, the Geek Brief Intern give Wubi a try. He likes it so much he’s keeping it installed on his system.
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There is another option too. There is handy a program called Moka5 (http://www.moka5.com/) that allows running a virtual machine right there in windows without any drive partitions, and even runs from portable drives. No need to reboot either, as this type runs inside a window (using a modified VMware Player) as though you were using remote desktop. It can run almost any Linux distro, including Ubuntu, and even run Windows XP or Vista if you read the instructions on making your own (I use this “virtual windows” to test unstable programs without the risk of hurting my machine). Granted, it may or may not be slower than Wubi (don’t know), but it lets you easily switch between windows and your virtual machine, as well as manipulate which peripherals go to which environment..
Personally, I like to keep my copy on a 60GB WD Passport, and it works in any windows machine I plug it into.
Awesome, thanks, Matthew!