Installing Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake vs. Windows XP

I have been using Ubuntu since Breezy Badger 5.10 without any problems at all. I have a Dell desktop and I dual boot between Windows XP and Ubuntu. I recently updated from Breezy to Dapper without a hitch and from my experience Ubuntu is actually simpler to install, upgrade and use than Windows XP.

When migrating from XP or setting up a dual boot system on your hard drive there a few things you need to keep in mind before you start. Most Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, use the ext file system. Windows XP uses the NTFS file system and cannot use ext.

For a full rundown of Ubuntu-fying your laptop, read the Full Article!

I have been using Ubuntu since Breezy Badger 5.10 without any problems at all. I have a Dell desktop and I dual boot between Windows XP and Ubuntu. I recently updated from Breezy to Dapper without a hitch and from my experience Ubuntu is actually simpler to install, upgrade and use than Windows XP.

When migrating from XP or setting up a dual boot system on your hard drive there a few things you need to keep in mind before you start. Most Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, use the ext file system. Windows XP uses the NTFS file system and cannot use ext.

Before I started my installation of Ubuntu I made sure that the install would go smoothly by formatting the portion of my hard drive that would be used for Ubuntu in the FAT 32 file system. Doing this makes things easier and is a good first step. Of course if you are planning to dual boot you are going to have to partition your hard drive into seperate sections for each OS as well.

It’s a good idea to have somewhere near 20GB devoted to your Ubuntu installation and probably 40GB for your Windows XP installation. However, you can get away with using as little as 10GB for Ubuntu and 20GB for XP. Linux also requires a swap partition to be included within your Linux partition.

The swap partition is usually smaller than a Gigabyte and its size will need to be in proportion to the amount of RAM installed on your machine. Some people opt to also create two separate partitions for the home directory and the root directory, making it easier to upgrade or replace the OS without losing the personal files stored in your home directory.

While this is a good practice it is not necessary and can be confusing to people that are not familiar with creating partitions on hard drives. Partitioning a hard drive is a tedious and delicate process and care should always be taken when doing this. The installer used in the Ubuntu installations CD offers the user a method for partitioning the hard drive as well as means for formatting it in ext, but some advanced preparation should be taken to prepare the hard drive prior to using the install CD.

Linux is a derivative of the Debian distribution and it uses the apt-get system for downloading additional applications and accessories that are needed for the operating system. The initial install puts the bare bones minimum installation onto your hard drive and there is also a live CD that will allow you to boot from the CD prior to making the commitment of a hard drive installation. Once you have the base installed you can begin configuring your system the way you want it to be.

Using the Synaptic Package Manager or the apt- get command in the terminal window you can now gather the rest of the packages and libraries that are needed to round out your system. This is one of the major advantages that Ubuntu and all Linux based distributions have over Windows XP. All of the available software, drivers, guides and information is centrally located in repositories that are at the users fingertips.

Because of this there is no need to search for software when using Ubuntu. There was a time when Linux was not really an option for the average home user, but those days are gone. Anything that can be done with Windows XP can now be done using Linux with the same user friendly graphical user interfaces and wizards that XP users have come to rely upon. Just as the installation process in XP is guided by on screen prompts and helpful tips and hints, the install process for Ubuntu is done with an eye towards simplicity and ease of use for first timers.

I have been using Ubuntu for almost a year now and already I have become comfortable with it. Unlike XP, I have not had one single screen lock up episode or run into any viruses or malware that caused me to need to reinstall the OS using Ubuntu. Unfortunately, during the same time period I have had to reinstall XP once and I am constantly faced with security patches and  the fear that my personal information might one day be compromised.

Currently, the only time I use XP is when I absolutely have no choice. My school requires that our papers are turned in using Microsoft Office 2003, so the XP side of my hard drive does get used sometimes. My parents have even made the switch to Ubuntu! And that is saying a lot. Neither one of my parents are computer savvy (as they call it), but they both have had no trouble using Ubuntu on a daily basis for almost six months.

Dapper Drake (the most recent release of Ubuntu) is certainly going to continue to improve and grow in popularity. I think that now is the perfect time for anyone who has ever thought about trying something new to give ubuntu a shot. A new version of Ubuntu is released every six months so it’s only going to continue to get better. For those who would like to see a side by side comparison of an XP install versus an Ubuntu install, below is a chart detailing the installation experience of blogger and college professor Rhosgobel: