A different Linux test-drive

Published on Febuary 9th, 2009

Published on June 28th, 2010

So, you'd like to give Linux a try but you only have one computer and you are not really interested in creating partitions or wiping your windows installation. You have heard that you can run Ubuntu from a CD, but that doesn't interest you either.

What if you could install Ubuntu on your XP or Vista box just like you would install any other piece of software. Would that tempt you to give Ubuntu a try? Well, Wubi is a supported installer that will do just that.

Tech tips - So, you'd like to give Linux a try but you only have one computer and you are not really interested in creating partitions or wiping your windows installation. You have heard that you can run Ubuntu from a CD, but that doesn't interest you either.

What if you could install Ubuntu on your XP or Vista box just like you would install any other piece of software. Would that tempt you to give Ubuntu a try? Well, Wubi is a supported installer that will do just that.

Available at wubi-installer.org, this free piece of software couldn't be more easy to use. Just go to the site, click the Download Now button and save the small (less than one MB) application wubi.exe to your computer.

Once downloaded, double click wubi.exe to install. This program will download the Ubuntu installation files for you via the internet so you don't even have to create a CD.

Basically what happens is Wubi installs Ubuntu into a file within windows, and this file appears to Ubuntu as a real hard disk. To me it is similar to how virtual machines work.

Once, installed, Ubuntu will show under add/remove programs in the control panel just like any other software you have installed, like your virus scan, Microsoft Office or games. If you want to uninstall Ubuntu, you would do it here in the control panel the same way you would remove any software.

The automatic Ubuntu install comes with all the normal stuff you would expect such as Open Office, games, Firefox, picture editing software and more - everything you would expect to install if you had done it from scratch.

When you reboot your computer, you will see the new option to boot into Ubuntu. Of course, the option to boot into Windows will still be available. I tried this install on a laptop, and everything worked seamlessly. Even the wireless worked without issue, although I did struggle a bit with assigning static IP and DNS addresses. It is really set up to obtain network configuration automatically (via DHCP), but, that is just small stuff.

Wubi and Ubuntu are free. But, you don't get any warranty, so you run it at your own risk. You should remember to do an orderly shutdown rather than just pulling the power on your Ubuntu install.

This is a fun and easy way to experience a bit of the Linux world. Give it a try.

toddmusseau@gmail.com