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Filed under: Fun, Features, Linux, Lists

10 easy ways to play with Linux without leaving Windows

While I haven't made the switch to Linux full time, I find myself spending more and more time experimenting of late. In particular, I'm enjoying projects like Moblin and the Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

If you're still using Windows for your primary OS there are tons of ways to get your feet wet like a true penguin without making any serious commitments. Here are ten ways to play with Linux painlessly -- if you have another to share, please post it in the comments!

Virtualization

Moba LiveCD

Moba uses QEMU to boot LiveCD and LiveUSB images right from your Windows desktop. It works as a portable app and also offers context menu integration so you can right-click to launch fresh images.

Portable Ubuntu
Using Colinux, Pulseaudio for Windows, and the Xming X server, this package allows you to boot a fully-working Ubuntu environment inside Windows right from your usb flash drive. The bigger the better, obviously. I'd recommend an 8GB or 16GB if you plan on using it regularly.

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Filed under: OS Updates, Linux

Install Mythbuntu 8.10 from Windows with Wubi

Mythbuntu 8.10
Now that Ubuntu 8.10 is available (as well as its official cousins, Kubuntu 8.10 and Xubuntu 8.10), all of the unofficial community-run projects based on Ubuntu are updating their code. And that includes Mythbuntu, an operating system designed to turn your PC into a media center by fusing the open source MythTV software with Ubuntu.

Mythbuntu 8.10 incorporates many of the updates that you'll find in a stock version of Ubuntu. It uses the Xfce 4 desktop environment, but if you use your Mythbuntu system primarily as an operating system you'll rarely see the desktop.

One of the coolest features in Mythbuntu 8.10 is support for Wubi. What Wubi does is let you install Mythbuntu (or Ubuntu) from within Windows as if it were just another Windows program. Once installed, you can reboot your system and just select the Mythbuntu option at boot. This makes it easy for anyone who's ever wanted to try Mythbuntu or MythTV to take it for a spin without repartitioning your hard drive. If you don't like it, you can just uninstall Mythbuntu from the Windows add/remove programs utility.

[via eHomeUpgrade]

Filed under: OS Updates, Linux, Open Source, Canonical, Beta

Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5 released

Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron is marching closer to its scheduled April launch. Canonical has released the 5th Alpha of the next generation of the popular Linux distribution. Among other things, Alpha 5 comes with a new installation option: Users can either run and install Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5 using a LiveCD, or they can use Wubi to install Ubuntu to a partition from within Windows. No reboot necessary.

Here are a few more updates in the latest Alpha release:
  • Firefox 3 beta 3 is the default web browser
  • Xorg 7.3 is included
  • Uses Linux kernel 2.6.24
  • PulseAudio is used by default
  • Transmission BitTorrent client replaces Gnome BitTorrent
  • Vinagre VNC client replaces xvnc4viewer
  • Brasero CD/DVD burning application, replaces the Serpentine CD burning utility
  • The World Clock applet can now display the time and weather in multiple locations
Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5 is available for download now. But since this is still pre-release software, we wouldn't recommend installing it on your primary machine. You know, unless you like using undercooked software on your primary machine and potentially losing data.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Linux

UNetbootin: Create a dual boot Windows/Linux PC without a CD

UNetbootinUNetbootin is a tool that makes installing Linux about as easy as it can be. Like Wubi, you can install UNetbootin on a Windows partition to get started. Unlike Wubi, the end result with UNetbootin is a dual-boot machine that can boot either into a Windows partition or a Linux one.

So why use UNetbootin instead of downloading and burning a liveCD? Well, if you don't have a spare CD-R writing around, of if your computer doesn't have a CD burner, UNetbootin uses a network-based installation technique. Just select the flavor of UNetbootin you want to install, reboot your machine, and follow the on-screen instructions. This would be an awesome tool for anyone who has one of those super-portable laptops that don't come with optical disc drives.

You can use UNetbootin to install Debian, Arch Linux, Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSuse 10.2, and Ubuntu 6.06 - 7.10. There are Linux and Windows-based installers available which means you can use UNetbootin to add Ubuntu to your Windows PC or to ad Mandriva to your OpenSuse machine. Windows Vista isn't currently supported, but an update should be coming in a few weeks that will allow you to use UNetbootin with Vista.

[via Howtoforge]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Linux, Open Source

Wubi makes Ubuntu a snap for Windows users


I'd wager that there are a huge number of Windows users who would probably be quite happy with Ubuntu Linux as their day-in day-out OS of choice. If only there were an easy way to try Ubuntu out on your windows machine without breaking anything, repartitioning or dealing with the diminished performance of a Live CD.

You're in luck. Wubi takes the hassle out of installing Ubuntu on a loopback file system located on your Windows partition, while making it bootable just like a real-deal Ubuntu install. In fact, it _is_ a real-deal Ubuntu install, albeit in a slightly unconventional manner. If you go glassy eyed at the word "loopback", don't worry.. it's just a fancy way of saying that your whole Ubuntu install is self-contained and stored in a single large file on your Windows drive.

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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