Posts Tagged With: switch
· September 3, 2007 at 5:00 am · Hot Web Topics
Hi again. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. Hopefully, you’re getting over the last blast of the summer without too much pain. What do you say we pick up where we left off last week on the installation of the Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04)?
Running from Live CD or Full Install
Last week, I had downloaded the ISO file, burned it to a CD with DeepBurner and was preparing to install Ubuntu on my hard drive. Before we go much further, let me tell you that you can run Ubuntu right from the CD. That’s right! You can run it and all it’s programs right off the CD. It’s called a Live CD and this way you can check out Ubuntu without installing it. Now, you won’t be able to save anything as it’s a live CD and is read only. You would have to install it to do any of that but, the Live CD will give you the opportunity to see what all Ubuntu has to offer. It tends to run quite a bit slower than an actual installation so don’t let that influence your decision.
My installation went so smooth that I was left wondering why I hadn’t tried this before. As Ubuntu runs through the pre-installation process, it asks you questions like what time zone you’re in (it does this in a general way as my time zone was selected by way of Mexico which is CDT), keyboard preferences, language, and eventually, you get to the part where you get to decide where to install Ubuntu and how.
This can be frustrating to some as your average user (like me) normally wouldn’t have a clue as to what partition to install Ubuntu to. This is easily overcome because Ubuntu gives you several choices on how to install it. I chose to install it to my second hard drive and clicked next. The next screen allows you to review your choices and if they’re good to go, click install.
Taking Your First Steps Into Ubuntu
Now, because I still wanted to keep Windows due to the many apps/programs/files/junk that I had accumulated over the years I was a bit nervous by this point. Remember, I was a first-timer at this too at this point. Well, my fears were totally unfounded as Ubuntu recognized my other hard drive with Windows and asked for logon credentials to be able to access it. Sweet! Dual boot plus access right from the Ubuntu Desktop! Can it get any better than this? Oh yes…read on!
After the installation process completes, you remove the CD (it tells you to as it needs to reboot now) and when Ubuntu boots back up, you’re greeted by your new desktop. Right about then you’re presented by a notification that you need to update your new installation with around 148 updated files, apps and so forth. Just click the icon and follow the prompts. After it finishes you may need to reboot once more.
Now is where you see that you have a wonderful new desktop that is secure (no viruses to be concerned about, no malware), many apps to check out like Open Office (a M/S Word/Excel/Powerpoint substitute), Firefox (much better than M/S Internet Explorer), Evolution (a replacement for M/S Outlook) and many more apps and programs that are real similar to their paid for counterparts that run on Windows but are installed free on your new operating system.
Ubuntu Linux Resources
This site has an excellent tutorial on installing Ubuntu 7.04, although you don’t need to install all the apps/software that he does unless you just want to. Keep in mind that you can access your Windows drive from Ubuntu anytime you want plus having the option to boot into Windows can’t be beat.
These next sites address some neat information for those who want to know more about Ubuntu:
Now considering I was new to all this Linux stuff and was a bit unsure what to expect, I was impressed by the ease with which Ubuntu installs, updates, and operates. It’s so easy you’ll feel comfortable in no time. As a matter of fact, I’ve rarely booted into Windows at all in weeks! That’s just how impressed and at ease I am with Ubuntu now. That speaks volumes!
Next week I’ll go over some neat apps that Ubuntu has to offer that Windows also has. Call it a comparison or battle royale between the two operating systems. Either way, I think you’ll find it interesting.
Article by Scott Wilson - Scott has been involved with PC’s, operating systems and web development for around 6 years. Once he figured out how to turn a computer on he’s never been quite able to turn it back off again. He’s been continually adding to a weblog to help pass on information relating to the world wide web. You can find out more about Scott and his work at MerlinsMinute.com.
· August 28, 2007 at 6:03 am · Personal, Software Help
At least once a year I get so frustrated with Windows I look over at Linux and see what is happening on that side of the fence. Now before I might do the whole Live CD thing - my main problem with that though is that my CD drive in this PC sounds like helicopter taking off when I put any disks into it.
So what is a guy wanting to play with Linux, but doesn’t want to do the whole partition dance need to do? Go give Wubi a whirl.
From start to finish, Wubi just makes it almost dead brain simple to get Ubuntu up and running. As a matter of fact, over the past two days I’ve played with Kubuntu and Ubuntu trying to decide which one I like more. When your done with it - you can just uninstall it like you would any other application and it is gone from your system. No messy clean up and no sticky mess.
· August 27, 2007 at 5:45 am · Hot Web Topics
No, that’s not an offer to dance but one of the best desktop OS (operating systems) out there today that runs on Linux instead of Windows. Interested?
Good because this article is about the process of installing Ubuntu Linux right along-side Windows XP Pro, my expectations and what actually happened. Egads, you say! Are you nuts? No, in spite of the rumors I’m quite sane and if you read on you’ll see why.
Been keeping up with the latest news on the Vista home front? All the bugs that are beginning to come out in the light? Again? Hear the horror stories about the costs of the upgrades? The extra hardware that’s needed to make sure that Vista will run like it’s advertised? It can be intimidating to say the least. Well read on gentle readers as I have a sound solution for you and your computer. The sweet part of it? All it’ll cost you is a little time. That’s right, it’s free!
What Are You Talking About Ubun-who?
Now, before you start the nay-saying, let me explain. Linux (of which Ubuntu is a distribution or distro) is based on what’s called Open Source Software. It’s not proprietary like Windows which allows it to be free for everyone to use as they wish. An entire global community works together on many variations of Linux. Each one has it’s followers like Ubuntu which this article will follow.
Some might say that “you’ll get what you pay for and if it’s free, it isn’t going to be much good!” Wrong again! I’m here to tell you that what you get with Ubuntu is a full-featured, rich operating system that will blow your mind away.
Follow along as I work my way through the process of installing Ubuntu’s Ver. 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) along-side Windows XP Pro on my desktop PC, what I expected from it and what I end up with. I’ll include what you’ll need to accomplish this task so easily that you’ll wonder what you were nervous about in the first place.To be honest with you, I was terrified that I’d screw up my PC if I tried to monkey around with it. But to my absolute amazement, it all went smoothly.
Getting Yourself Ready and Started
I downloaded the ISO file from Ubuntu’s website, burned it to a CD and checked it to make sure the image was a good burn. Keep in mind that an ISO file should be burned as slowly as possible for it to work properly. I also downloaded an ISO image of an app called GParted (free for download) for future use. More on this later.
Now, this is where your details might differ slightly from mine but no worries, mate! It’s all gonna work out.
I have 2 hard drives mounted in my PC. One was for storage and the other for apps and all that other junk that we accumulate over time. I also have 2 external hard drives connected by USB. Yes, I have a lot of junk!
I chose to install Ubuntu on one of my internal drives because I had moved all my files to the external ones. So, I had one to play with. You can install Ubuntu on the same drive as Windows if you wish. It will happily co-exist there with Windows and you can boot to either at anytime.
Next, you’ll read about how easy the installation went, any issues realized and what I wind up with.
Article by Scott Wilson - Scott has been involved with PC’s, operating systems and web development for around 6 years. Once he figured out how to turn a computer on he’s never been quite able to turn it back off again. He’s been continually adding to a weblog to help pass on information relating to the world wide web. You can find out more about Scott and his work at MerlinsMinute.com.
· July 16, 2007 at 6:00 am · Online Tools
Want to create a side income for yourself - a little extra change on the side never hurt anybody right? Well the folks over at FreelanceSwitch have put together one heck of a nice guide helping you learn how you can do it too.
Learn how to create a passive income yourself.
Getting paid by the hour is pretty neat, but it’s even better when you have income that comes in when you’re taking time off too! Freelancers are uniquely positioned to be able to spend time creating sources of passive income while still getting their main money earning work done.
You can download it as an eBook or you can read the entire thing Online. The choice is up to you.
· June 14, 2007 at 9:51 am · Online Tools
In my adventure to switch from Yahoo! Mail to Gmail I have found a handful of links that have helped my both pre-move and post-move that I thought I’d share with you all.
Have any more to suggest? I’d love to check ‘em out.
· January 31, 2007 at 8:37 am · Personal, Software Help
With all this talk about Windows Vista, it made me want to reach out and try something different and new.
So a few days ago, on a total whim - I downloaded and burned a live CD for Ubuntu. This Linux flavor seems to be all the rage these days so I wanted to see what all the fuss was really about.
Now I haven’t ever used linux for long periods of time. I did have a phase where I was playing with Fedora, but I never had a reason to use it - so I never did. With my good old reliable and easy Windows PC in the corner there was no need or urge felt to learn how to do things. That is my fault.
Back to Ubuntu though, it is nice. It might not be Vista candy-coated-shell nice, but it does look like something I could use from a day to day basis. The only problem I have is finding the time to switch over and learn how to do the simple stuff all over again.
I don’t use Windows because I love it, I use it because it is convenient. I grew up on Windows and everything I know thus far (as far as computers are concerned) is based around Windows.
Maybe one of these days though, if I can take a week off to dedicate myself to switch - I would. Overall I would say it was nice, but I don’t know if I am totally ready to switch over for my day to day activities just yet.
If anybody has an good suggestions for articles or books on making the transition a little easier I might give it a shot. Could always keep Windows on my notebook and Ubuntu on my poor old PC that would probably kick the bucket if I even whispered the word “Vista” in its ear.
