Wubi - Dual Boot Windows & Ubuntu - Free
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Before I start I just want to thank thatgrrl who also writes here at LG here. In one of her comments she asked if I had ever heard of Wubi? Nope, but I went to take a look to see what it is.
Wubi is in Beta [testing] and is a software program which claims that you can install Ubuntu from with Windows without having to partition nor setup a bootloader. Interesting. If you have ever read some of the Linux forums in the past, then you are aware that some poor sould have actually lost the ability to boot Windows after installing a linux distribution. Though this can be corrected with the help of a Linux professional that is normally available in most forums, the procedure for some is complicated.
So what is Wubi?
Wubi is an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows users that will bring you into the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other application. If you heard about Linux and Ubuntu, if you wanted to try them but you were afraid, this is for you.
Wubi is Safe
It does not require you to modify the partitions of your PC, or to use a different bootloader.
Wubi is Simple
Just run the installer, no need to burn a CD.
Wubi is Discrete
Wubi keeps most of the files in one folder, and If you do not like, you can simply uninstall it.
Wubi is Free
Wubi (like Ubuntu) is free as in beer and as in freedom. You will get this part later on, the important thing now is that it cost absolutely nothing, it is our gift to you…
System requirements are light only requiring 256MB of RAM and a 1G cpu or higher. Also note that there is no warranty made for the software. This is Beta software and is still in the testing stages. If I am reading this correctly, it seems like Wubi sets up Ubuntu as a virtual drive, which could make using Ubuntu somewhat slower than installing it directly to the hard disk. They also mention it is important to defrag. your drive as well.
If anyone decides to try this software, let us know what your experience is.
Comments as always are welcome.
Wubi can be found here.
8 Comments
marc klink
June 22nd, 2007
at 11:37am
I wonder if this idea was inspired by the way one could install BeOS on Windows…seems to be almost identical.
Ron Schenone
June 22nd, 2007
at 11:52am
Hi Marc,
Thanks for the comment and observation.
Ron
tony kearney
September 30th, 2007
at 6:21pm
Disappointed with Wubi. It installed trouble free and smoothly, but when I went to start Ubuntu the first and successive times, I got the black screen of death? I am using XP, 2BG RAM, and I have plenty of space on the HD. I have installed other distros in the past with about 50% success: Kubuntu and Xandros installed well while Ubuntu through Wubi and Knoppix had issues.
Ron Schenone
September 30th, 2007
at 7:41pm
Hi Tony,
Thanks for passing this on.
Ron
Cary Conover
October 9th, 2007
at 2:41pm
Folks,
This is all well and good that you are posting your experience.
However, I work the software game. You ALL are leaving out CRITICAL information.
What is the Hardware Platform you are installing this to: Example:
IBM x360 or HP D370 or Compaq or Dell or and the list goes on.
Additionally what are the resources in that machine as well?
Free space on the hard drive?
Which Distribution of XP, Pro, Home, What?
Which Service Package of XP?
Come on. If you are going to post do us all a favor and post the results of systeminfo here too…..
That will give a much better picture of what you ran up against.
Just to blatantly post the Black Screen of Death and not include all the specs means you really are not in support of this and really do not want to make this a sucess. If you did you would be posting all the specs and working with the developer to find a solution to the issue.
Regards,
Cary
Software Professional in the ERP realm.
Victor
January 20th, 2008
at 9:52am
I agree with Cary Conover..
I think that you should find out your specs before you do anything!!!!
I learned that the hard way…!!!
I used a wubi like installer to install linux debian etch… it worked..!!
for the most part. Then i found out that my sound card is outdated and it is not supported.
i heard about wubi and i’ve tried it when it first came out.. no succes due to my old computer. I just bought another one and as i write this i’m running wubi.. i hope everything goes well… and i support linux all the way… they’re not advertised because theres no need to. Everything is free and what i like about it is that is open source, and you can virtualy anything to it… mod it anyway you want. not just be limited to what you get with windows or mac. Good luck with everything if your trying out linux. I think that this is so far the best way to go (wubi) JUST PLLEASE BE AWARE OF YOUR SYSTEM SPECS before you shut down the idea of linux.
-Victor
Richard
March 22nd, 2008
at 11:52pm
Have set up & run Xubuntu with no problem on my laptop. Also managed to configure internet connection using USB cable rather than ethernet. Also have added prigs & run updates no probs.
Overall very impressed! Even better my Windows is still there and unaffected.
John Kampert
July 4th, 2008
at 4:02am
Sorry, WUBI DOES NOT work; have tried it 5 times now in various forms following blog leads and each time it bombs out installing Ebuntu into Windows XP after reading 99.9999999999% of the CD by telling me it can;t access the disk.
Some System………..