Versions of the Ubuntu Desktop CD prior to version 8.04 provided a variety of open source soft-ware packages that were compiled for Microsoft Windows systems, enabling Windows users to try out some of the amazing software that they could see and use after booting from the Desktop CDs in Live CD mode. These packages included Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, the GIMP image creation and editing package, and several others.
Versions 8.04 and later of the Ubuntu Desktop CDs stopped offering the Windows versions of these packages, providing an even better option for Windows users: the option to install Ubuntu onto any existing Windows system without re-partitioning your existing disk, adding a boot option to your Windows system that enables you to boot into either Ubuntu or your existing Windows sys-tem. This capability is provided by an impressive package called Wubi (Windows-based Ubuntu Installer — http://wubi-installer.org). Installing Ubuntu onto an existing Windows sys-tem requires a minimum of 4 GB of disk space (5 GB or better is recommended), but gives you a complete Ubuntu system that is installed into a new directory on your Windows system. On the Windows side, a Wubi-based installation looks like any other Windows application and can even be removed using the traditional “Add/Remove Applications” Control Panel application.
A Wubi installation works by creating an Ubuntu directory at the top level of your system’s hard drive and populating that with the files that Wubi requires to boot Ubuntu, including a filesys-tem image for that distribution. The installation process adds an Ubuntu option to your Windows continued
boot menu (which you may never have even seen before if your system only ran Windows), and then installs the boot loader (wubildr — the Wubi loader) that it uses to mount and access the filesystem image as the application that is executed when the Ubuntu boot option is selected.
To take advantage of this installation option, insert an Ubuntu Desktop CD into the CD/DVD drive of an existing Windows system. After any dialogs that your Windows system uses to confirm that you want to run the Wubi.exe software from the CD, the dialog shown in Figure 2-18 displays.
Figure 2-18
Ubuntu dialog on a Microsoft Windows system
To install Ubuntu on your existing Windows system, click “Install Inside Windows.” The dialog shown in Figure 2-19 displays.
Figure 2-19
Beginning the Ubuntu installation process on Windows
By default, the Username field shows the name of the Windows user that is currently logged in.
If you want to use a different user when logging into your Wubi-based Ubuntu installation, enter the username that you want to use.
Next, enter the password that you want this user to have on your Wubi-based Ubuntu installa-tion, verifying that you haven’t made a typo by entering the password twice.
Finally, if you have any special Accessibility requirements, click Accessibility to display a dialog like the one shown in Figure 2-20. After setting any accessibility options that you want to use, click Next to return to the main installation dialog.
Figure 2-20
Accessibility settings for a Wubi-based installation on Windows
To begin the installation process, click Install. You will see a progress dialog as Wubi verifies the checksums of the files and directories that it is installing, installs Ubuntu into the filesystem image, and so on. A summary dialog displays when the installation completes, offering you the option to reboot now or later to start using your new Wubi-based Ubuntu installation.
After installing Ubuntu and Wubi, you will see a screen like that shown in Figure 2-21 the next time you boot your Windows system.
To boot into your existing Windows installation, simply press Enter/Return on your keyboard. To boot into Ubuntu, use the arrow keys to select that boot option and press Enter/Return.
Wubi is another shining example of the creativity of the open source community; it provides yet another way for Windows users to experience the power of Ubuntu Linux.
Figure 2-21
A Wubi boot screen on Windows 7
Summary
This chapter explained how you can take Ubuntu Linux for a test drive or even permanently install it after booting from the Ubuntu Desktop CD that is appropriate for the type of personal computer that you’re currently using. (This book includes an Ubuntu Desktop CD for x86 tems.) Although I hope that you’ve installed Ubuntu Linux permanently on your computer sys-tem, this chapter also discussed various ways of experimenting with Ubuntu and saving your data if you’re not yet ready to install it permanently on your computer.
If you’re not ready to completely commit yourself to Ubuntu Linux, the Ubuntu Desktop CD also enables you to install Ubuntu on an existing Windows system as a dual-boot system, or within an existing Windows partition without re-partitioning or making any significant changes to your existing Windows system (aside from adding a boot option and using up some disk space, that is). The latest generation of the Ubuntu Desktop CD makes it easier than ever before to experi-ence the power, flexibility, and freedom provided by the Ubuntu Linux distributions.
The next chapter discusses other ways of installing Ubuntu Linux using CDs other than the Desktop CD that this chapter focused on. These include CDs that enable you to install Ubuntu on systems with less than 512 MB of memory or in OEM scenarios by using a text-based installer, and the Ubuntu Server CD, which makes it easy to install Ubuntu for server systems and pro-vides some default configurations to help you get up and running with Ubuntu as a core compo-nent of your SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) or enterprise infrastructure.