![]() ![]() That said, it is possible to buy a computer through some PC vendors with Ubuntu preloaded. You can also boot to a command prompt to do some basic recovery work - get access to hard disks and CD/DVD drives, for instance.įinally, I mentioned at the top of this section that most of us deal with Vista as a preload and will probably install Ubuntu manually. Vista includes a memory test as well, and the ability to restore the system from a backup, but no integrity check for the installation media - for instance, if you downloaded and burned it as an. Ubuntu's install CD includes a self-test to determine if the disc has any burning errors and a memory test routine (the venerable Memtest86+). (Ubuntu 7.04 does have read/write support for NTFS partitions, although it doesn't support encrypted files or security groups.) The closest thing Vista has to something like this is the ability to install a full working version of the OS on a computer without a Vista license key, and to try it out for 30 days (extendable to 120).īoth operating systems include a few utilities on the CD itself. You can also use this live-CD feature to perform system recovery to some extent. Obviously you won't get the full range of functionality possible with Ubuntu when you do this (you might not be able to persistently save files or settings, for instance), but you can get a very good feel for how things work without actually committing yourself completely to the OS. Boot the CD and you can run a full, working copy of Ubuntu directly from the CD without installing anything on the host computer. ![]() One of Ubuntu's biggest positives is its "live CD" mode. The Ubuntu people are working hard on it. Unfortunately, one key piece of the migration puzzle, e-mail (not just e-mail client settings, but the contents of one's e-mail), isn't fully supported yet. IE settings, wallpapers, user avatars, and the contents of the My Documents / Music / Pictures folders can all be imported this way. If you attempt to install Ubuntu on a system where Windows XP is present, the Ubuntu Migration Assistant will attempt to import your files and documents from your XP installation. Other people haven't been as lucky, though: Folks who used the HighPoint HP370 controller under 6.10 had issues getting Ubuntu installed. Ubuntu, however, detected the SiI3114 automatically at startup and had drivers ready for it. I had to download the drivers from the manufacturer's Web site once I did, I was able to provide them on a USB drive during Vista's setup routine. This is particularly important in my case, since my desktop machine uses an integrated Silicon Image SiI3114 SATA RAID controller which has no drivers on the Vista setup DVD. Vista has improved this process enormously: You can read drivers needed for installation from any attached mass-storage device, like a USB drive. If you wanted to install Windows XP on a computer that used a mass-storage controller with no drivers available for it on the installation CD, you had to place the drivers on a floppy and go through a bit of rigmarole to get them working. Both OSes let you manually choose disk partitioning schemes for an existing disk, or have the computer wipe everything down and sort things out. Pop in the installation disc, boot the computer, and run the setup process (which can take an hour or more). Vista and Ubuntu have roughly the same installation procedure. A Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 session running on the desktop system, with 512MB RAM and a 16GB HD. A dual Opteron desktop computer with 2GB RAM, a 320GB HD, and an ATI Radeon 9550 graphics controller. A Sony VAIO VGN-TX770P notebook computer, with 1GB RAM, an 80GB HD, and an Intel 915GM shared-memory integrated graphics controller.Ģ. To that end, I installed both Ubuntu and Vista on three different test machines:ġ. The few times you have to install it yourself, though, the whole thing needs to be as painless as possible. Most people never have to deal with installing Windows on a new PC, since Windows typically comes as a preload. Everyone needs something different, and not everyone needs (or wants) Vista - or Ubuntu - so I've done my best to keep my mind, and my eyes, wide open. I should also note that, despite being a big fan of Vista, I've tried to keep my enthusiasm for it from overriding my judgment. In each case, I've tried to look at practical benefits rather than theoretical ones - what works, what doesn't, and what you have to do to get certain things done. In addition, Beryl isn't installed by default in Ubuntu, and Aero isn't available on all PCs. ![]() Also, while I was tempted to compare Vista's Aero interface to the Beryl window manager (which has a similar palette of visual effects), I decided that pretty graphics, while nice, had more to do with personal preference than efficiency. ![]()
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