Windows or Ubuntu

[DBAlex]

Funnily enough, I'm posting this from my brand new Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron install, I've got to say i'm actually pretty impressed with how the install went... (Hardy Heron was only released yesterday, and is a release that has a 5 year support scheme from Canonical)

I installed it using the new option of installing inside windows, it uses wubi(http://wubi-installer.org/) to do this, and it works pretty damn well (I set a 6GB partition, as my laptop HD is only 40gb) when I boot up now I get two options, I can boot into XP or Ubuntu, and the best thing of all is that it didn't install Grub or any bootmanager... :-) Another key feature of installing ubuntu with wubi is that you can literally un-install whenever you want... it puts an entry in Add/Remove Programs so you can remove ubuntu whenever you want - and as there is no extra bootmanager installed its all easy and works well.

Its found all my hardware (WLan needed a couple of re-boots and then propietary driver install) and i'm just pretty much liking the new release... I tried the previous 7.10 release but it caused nothing but havoc with my laptop, sound didn't work fully, wlan required voodoo to get it working, and graphics weren't that much easier... So the 8.04 release has been a breath of fresh air.

The only complaints I have atm are that there aren't many development tools installed... Python is installed but specifically Ruby isn't, but its a pretty easy install using the brilliant apt-get anyway...

Well yeah, I'm just pretty blown away by the new release... I've been trying ubuntu off and on since the 5.10 Breezy Badger release but 8.04 is just amazing  :-D ... So yeah, as you can probably tell, i'd go with Ubuntu. And if you really still need windows apps, you can allways use VirtualBox to virtualise XP/2000 on-top of Linux, or of course you could use Wine to run your Windows apps.

[DBAlex]

amigadave wrote:
@DBAlex,

I take it the sound for your laptop is now working with 8.04?

I ran it on my Dell tower from the CD last night after downloading and burning the CD, and the sound did not work.  I have 7.10 on my wife's HP laptop and she has been complaining ever since I installed it that there is no sound and the plug-ins for websites are missing.

Should I uninstall 7.10 and install 8.04, or install 8.04 over 7.10?  I am a newbie at Linux and expect it to be easy like Mac OS 10.5

Just do a plain install of 8.04, and when you have installed it, go to Applications -> Add/Remove... (In Ubuntu) and click Show -> All Available Applications. From their you can install all the "restricted" (non-free) packages... As in Video drivers, Flash plugins, MP3, MP4. etc etc

And yes, sound works fine here, although it did *not* on 7.10 for some reason. One thing to try though is going to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal and when in the terminal typing alsamixer and by using the arrow keys <- and -> move along the audio inputs/outputs... and if you find one that says MM at the bottom press M on the keyboard to un-mute it and press up until the bar is at the maximum (Basically - Un-muting all alsa channels) (don't do it for any that you get audio "feedback" [As in a loud screech] on (just press M again for those)) once you have done that for all of them press Escape twice to exit and save. Now try sound again, it should hopefully work.

If it doesn't then you can allways try the Ubuntu forums (http://ubuntuforums.org/) and if they don't help then you can allways try the Ubuntu IRC channel too (http://www.ubuntu.com/support/community/chatirc) they are usually both friendly and people will you help you in either.

Hope that helps a bit... One other thing that might help you is this: http://fosswire.com/2008/04/22/ubuntu-cheat-sheet/ [I downloaded and printed myself a copy] its a cheatsheet for commands in the Terminal... It can save you a lot of hassle and GUI work.  :-)

Cheers, Alex.  :-D

[DBAlex]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:

DBAlex wrote:
I've been trying ubuntu off and on since the 5.10 Breezy Badger release but 8.04 is just amazing  :-D .

I haven't encountered anything amazing as for yet. I hoped for UDF cd handling, and proper OpenGL support for my video card. I'm *QUITE* disappointed in that. :-(

Which video card do you have?

[DBAlex]

Btw, Heres a quick screenshot of my setup:
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron Screenshot

[Sorry, couldn't imbed, image was too big]

[DBAlex]

adolescent wrote:
@DBAlex

Looks like a standard Gnome desktop.  Turn on the Emerald and Compiz Fusion!  :-D

It is on! I just don't like the bouncy windows thing... All it has atm is subtle transitions when you open menus, close windows etc... also it has transparency on window titles when windows lose focus. :-)