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A major drawback for users of the Ubuntu OS is its incompatibility with some hardware and software, such as devices like printers as well as most PC games. Many Linux users try to mitigate this problem by dual-booting their computers; that is, they have both Windows and Ubuntu on their PCs.
That way, one can fall back on Windows for the one-off use of software or hardware. So if you are going to be using a non-Linux supported device or program frequently, it is probably better to stick to Windows.
Before you can begin installing Ubuntu, you will need to download the installer from the website, www.ubuntu.com, and burn it onto a CD to make your own installation CD.
Alternatively, you can order a free CD from the Ubuntu website to save you from downloading the 700MB file, but it will take six to 10 weeks to deliver. The latest version currently available is Ubuntu 7.10, released in October (2007).
Are you ready? Let’s go.
1. In Windows Vista, open up the Start Menu and right click My Computer. Click Manage, and then Disk Management.
2. Right-click the Vista partition bar at the bottom of the screen and select “Shrink Volume”.
3. Here you can set how much disk space you want to allocate to your Ubuntu OS. The minimum requirement is 4GB, but it is recommended that you give it at least 10GB so that you can install additional programs on it (there are thousands of free programs to download and use in Ubuntu).
4. Once you are done, insert the Ubuntu installation CD and reboot your computer. Your computer should automatically boot off the installation CD. At the Ubuntu startup menu, select “Start or install Ubuntu”. Your computer will then boot into Ubuntu. If your computer continues booting into Windows, you will need to reconfigure the boot order of your computer in the BIOS setup menu. To access this menu, press a key (usually F12) at the startup screen, then set the computer to boot from CD-ROM.
5. Click the “Install” icon on the desktop to access the Welcome screen. Click next, and carry on to set your time zone and keyboard layout.
6. At the “Prepare disk space” section, select the “Guided – use the largest continuous free space” option. This will select the disk space that you have freed up earlier in Step 3. You will then be brought to the Migration Assistant, where you will be able to import your documents and settings over to Ubuntu. A note of warning: if you select “Guided – use entire disk”, you will erase the entire hard disk.
7. On the “Who are you?” screen, enter in your details and proceed to install. Once it is complete, your system will reboot. You will then see a new GRUB menu displayed on your screen. Here you can choose which OS you want to boot into, every time you use the computer. You now have the best of both worlds!
