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How to: Dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu Linux

Napilopez

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I just... don't get it Rubyiris.

Its not as if Linux were taking away the features you have with Windows. You don't have to set certain windows to always being on top, but if for any reason you ever do, say you wanna watch a movie in a larger amount of space than the tiny preview window that media player gives you, while editing a paper or browsing a website maximized, you can. You don't have to, but you can. You don't have to use virtual desktops, but if you want, you can. Linux offers virtually all the functionality of windows. And you can use wine to run windows apps in Linux. Not to mention that Linux apps are free. Basically, you get most of what you can do in windows, in a prettier, faster, and more customizable environment. For the most part. Some sacrifices might be made here and there, but there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a shot, especially if you install via Wubi in the installer disk. That way you can add or remove linux as if it were a windowd program, right from control panel.
 

TheBuzzSaw

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Let's set aside the situation of gaming. Windows is naturally better at gaming, and no one really denies that. Linux has the edge on just about everything else Windows can do.

Browsing the web? Linux is infinitely more secure. It also runs much faster.

Office suite? OpenOffice can interact with MS Office formats. It is free and can do everything a typical user needs it to do.

Graphic design? Photoshop is naturally everyone's weapon of choice, but GIMP is catching up rapidly. I am a web designer; GIMP is sufficient for everything I do. So, unless you are a top end designer, GIMP works.

Programming? Oh heavens, you shouldn't even be using Windows for this. Linux has an awesome selection of IDE software. If you do any web programming, you can also configure your system to run as a complete LAMP server.

From there, you add money to the equation, and Windows just falls apart. Windows costs money. MS Office costs money. Photoshop costs money. MS Visual Studio costs money. The fact that Linux even remotely competes with Windows (even if Linux is deemed "inferior") says a lot. Open source is the wave of the future. :)
 

Napilopez

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Let's set aside the situation of gaming. Windows is naturally better at gaming, and no one really denies that. Linux has the edge on just about everything else Windows can do.

Browsing the web? Linux is infinitely more secure. It also runs much faster.

Office suite? OpenOffice can interact with MS Office formats. It is free and can do everything a typical user needs it to do.

Graphic design? Photoshop is naturally everyone's weapon of choice, but GIMP is catching up rapidly. I am a web designer; GIMP is sufficient for everything I do. So, unless you are a top end designer, GIMP works.

Programming? Oh heavens, you shouldn't even be using Windows for this. Linux has an awesome selection of IDE software. If you do any web programming, you can also configure your system to run as a complete LAMP server.

From there, you add money to the equation, and Windows just falls apart. Windows costs money. MS Office costs money. Photoshop costs money. MS Visual Studio costs money. The fact that Linux even remotely competes with Windows (even if Linux is deemed "inferior") says a lot. Open source is the wave of the future. :)
Well, I do prefer Office 2007 seven to OOo, but thats more of a prettiness thing =P.

Don't forget you can get GIMP on windows too =P. But yea, its originally a Linux thing. Eww photoshop, I haven't used that thing in years XD. I actually use Adobe Fireworks for my image editing, even if its not as powerful as photoshop. I just prefer the workflow, plus I can use photoshop plugins. Oh and about GIMP, the fact that you can import photoshop plugins into GIMP is awesome. There is very little need to use photoshop over gimp.

Money is the biggest issue. Yay Open Source!
 

Rubyiris

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Apr 19, 2007
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Tucson, AZ.
I'm not arguing that Linux is bad, or worse or better than Windows. I'm simply saying for what I use my computer for, Linux would not do me any good.

The only things I use my Laptop and Desktop for are:

1. Gaming.
2. Firefox.
3. AIM/MSN/YIM.

Very seldom do I need to use a word processor, and wgen I do, the standard Text Document, or Rich Text Document is as good as I need. Often I only use them for quick notes and I'm too lazy to simply write them down.
 

Frames

DI
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man i like how this became a windows vs linux thread when the original point of the thread was to show how you could have both at once thus eliminating the need to make an actual decision

anyhoo i'd like to thank altf4 for making a very nice guide, i like using linux for certain things, i dont have a lot of exp with ubuntu though i usually use debian on my server for stuff and it's a neat little os

also linux mint is such a sick distro u guys should check it out as well
 

Superstar

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^^^ Lol man.

Buzz, what would happen if you're running something like Visual Studio, or decided to make a program for the Windows platform [adding to problem etc etc I know]. How would Linux help you there? Not bashing, just curious.

For web programming...Linux is fine. I remember using Kate with it once. Felt nice, but I was so much more accustomed to Programmer's Notepad/Filezilla combo [and it's clunky, I know]. Workspaces were very useful there.
 

TheBuzzSaw

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Buzz, what would happen if you're running something like Visual Studio, or decided to make a program for the Windows platform [adding to problem etc etc I know]. How would Linux help you there? Not bashing, just curious.
LINUX HATER! Oh, you're not bashing. My bad. XD

If you are making a program specifically for the Windows platform, naturally you would want to use Windows. I cannot imagine someone like me (who runs exclusively Linux) needing to write any software for Windows specifically. If I were using Windows, I would likely be writing some program to solve some problem relating to that, but since I don't, I would never need to.

Now, if someone else made a request to me to write some Windows-specific program (such as a registry cleaner or something like that), I would probably have to migrate over to my wife's Windows machine during the development process. Linux is just not a great choice for developing Windows software, just as Windows is not a great choice for developing something like Mac software.

However, when I developer actual applications for Linux, I focus on using cross-platform libraries (right now, I'm working on a project in SDL, which is an open library for graphics, similar to DirectX). I very rarely (if ever) develop Linux-exclusive software.
 

ninjade1

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Tucson, AZ
so i was curious as to a way to manage the partition on a xp rather then vista? I cant seem to find a way!
 

AltF4

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Sure! ;)

XP doesn't have the cool partition program that Vista does unfortunately. You're going to need a separate program like this one

http://www.soft32.com/download_151.html

XP does have a partition program, but it can't resize existing partitions.

Just make sure that your hard drive has enough empty space for the new partition (IE: Isn't full). It would also be good to defrag before running it.

Otherwise the instructions should be much the same. Let us know if that works for you.
 

AltF4

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Oh? I'm sorry, I guess I didn't even realize the program I linked to wasn't free. I'm glad you found something else though, just about anything else will do, no need to go spending money on it.
 

TheBuzzSaw

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[size=+4]SCREW DUAL BOOTING![/size]



I'm loving life right now. (This is a dual monitor setup, if you can't tell. This is not just some Photoshop job I did. It's one machine.)
 

TheBuzzSaw

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Windows XP is running in full-screen VirtualBox on the right. I am running Ubuntu 8.10 underneath (left).
 

Superstar

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Win, so much win.

I'm using C# for my gaming project. I'd like to use SDL so it'd go on any platform, but my C++ sucks balls, I need a REALLY good book recommended, a good IDE that doesn't burn my eyes, cause undergraduate FIU likes to teach Java.

I hear there is a C# bind, but then it wouldn't be cross platform I think so it defeats the purpose.
 

TheBuzzSaw

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Yeah, don't bother if you'll be using C#. I have seen one book for SDL, but it was quite old. I've been learning SDL using various online tutorials.
 

Superstar

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I mean a really good book on C++. I know some basics but I can't do anything with it really, and the more advanced stuff confuse me.
 

TheBuzzSaw

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I mean a really good book on C++. I know some basics but I can't do anything with it really, and the more advanced stuff confuse me.
Ooooh... Well shoot, there are bajillions of books on C++. I recommend going to Barnes & Noble (or the library), reading through several books, picking out the ones whose writing style you like the most, and buying it off Amazon. :)
 

Kirby King

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Being a good little conformist
I think he means the swap partition.

No, you should leave it alone. It's what Linux will use to store things as it runs out of memory, so you'll want to hang onto it.
 

godofrock72

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Nov 30, 2008
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Michigan, United States
Alright, thanks. I tried to install it as a dual-boot on my Mac. It didn't work out so well :-P. I had 4 partitions: Mac OS X, a partition that Boot Camp made but never got used because I don't have Windows and I was curious to see what it did, a partition for Linux and that last partition you're talking about. I figured I should leave those 2 partitions for Linux to be safe, but I went to delete that extra partition. Surprise! I deleted the Mac OS X partition instead! I didn't want to continue running in Ubuntu, since it's just not for me, so I wiped all of the partitions off of my hard drive and re-installed Tiger (Leopard is too slow on my Mac Mini).
 

hectichobo

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Is there a way to dual boot Windows Xp, Vista, Linux, and Mac? Because I've never used anything other than XP and Vista. Also My XP was on a different slow computer.
 

Superstar

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XP, Vista, and Linux on the same computer is easy. Adding in Mac though requires you to get a Macintosh, or a Hackintosh. The real question is, why would you want to? Unless it's for bragging rights, I don't get it, it's not like Mac users dual booting Windows for compatibility, or Linux's open source, there is little to no gain in dual booting Mac unless you absolutely LOVE the OS. That, and although XP/Vista can communicate with each other and act as one OS [sort of], dual booting 3 or more things is usually more effort than it's worth, unless, of course, you like to try stuff out.

Late response is late.
 

Superstar

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Ah, so you're already using a Mac. Then you can, pretty easily I think too.

I'm just talking about putting OSX on a PC. The trouble isn't worth the gain personally, but to some people it does.
 

Superstar

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I am going to KILL someone for XP making it a living hell to resize partitions.

Your screenshot was XP, so I tried checking, no resize. Found it was Vista only, and if you want to repartition I have to delete data. All 60GB of it. That and I"d have to reinstall XP, and it'd take maybe 7 hours? Ah screw that.

Getting a free trial of a partitioning program, take away 200 gigs, and put 64GB on it in Fedora and the rest in a free space partition. So if I need to repartition I can use the free space and not have to deal with this again.

Gonna do Fedora though, not Ubuntu.

Space is 600GB, FYI.

Internet sucks though. 26 minutes remaining....
 

TheBuzzSaw

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Have they resolved the issues regarding dual booting with Vista yet? I heard that SP1 made it almost impossible to dual boot with Ubuntu.

Regardless, I'm waiting until Windows 7. Vista was a waste.
 

Superstar

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lol, I tried 2 trials. BOTH require full version to resize. XD

Downloading GParted Live CD, gonna try it.

Vista is meh...except for this. >_<
 

AltF4

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I just dual booted my work machine (Vista SP1) using my own instructions and it worked like a charm.

Getting a good XP partition manager might be trouble though. I'll see if I can find something for you Superstar, or at least for XP people in the future.
 

Superstar

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I hear GParted is good. Either way I got it working.

I just took a chance, installed Fedora and used the resizer in the installer to do it, since I was pissed with all the corruption and slow internet. XP was a bit corrupted [or it claimed it], but the standard error check fixed it.

I would suggest a defragmentation in the instructions though. Not the Vista one, that one sucks [if only there was a good free one]. I used the XP one. I wanted to install 64bit Fedora though. Only one download link, and when I tried virtual box only i186 or something worked. Couldn't finish since...my brother had to go to bed.

Either way I like it. XP is listed as "Other" in the boot list.
 

Superstar

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Double post. I'd like to get Fedora on my laptop since all I use it for is for web surfing and word processing. However, I can't shrink the Vista partition. Built in Vista defrag failed, and while I still had a trial one, there were files at the end of the Hard drive that didn't want to move.

I hear there are certain "Vista services" you can turn off like indexing and such to make it work, but any ideas?

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...ows-vistas-shrink-volume-inadequacy-problems/

This looks like my problem.
 

Zero Beat

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I will soon be UPGRADING from Windows to Ubuntu and will surely use this guide, thanks Alt.
 

Crimson King

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Quick question for anyone really - when I do the partition, you said Windows was stupid, and I need to use GParted to partition, so do I make the partition in Windows AND Linux, just Linux, or what? Also, how much should I have for Linux. This will be used for anything except games (though games are a HUGE part of my PC usage), such as surfing, chatting, e-mail, and downloading. I have a second hard drive installed at 500GB where I install all my programs and such.
 
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