WUBI

So, I decided to install Ubuntu Linux to see what the fuss is about, and to see if it would bring some more life back to my old laptop. I downloaded the CD .iso to install Ubuntu 8.10. I then copied the .iso to an actual CD. The CD/impage comes with the option of installing Ubuntu as an application within Windows, and promises to be an easy way to install. This is called WUBI, and is the option I chose.

The installation went well, and if you are reading this, I've had some success using Firefox to make a new post. However, in the last few minutes, Firefox has crashed without warning a half-dozen times, so I am already wondering how stable this is going to be.

In any event, the installation seemed to complete without a hitch, Ubuntu comes with most of what one needs out of the box, wireless and sound seem to work, etc. So the experiment continues, and we'll see if Ubuntu is an improvement over Windows, just a decent option, or, maybe, suckville. Meanwhile, I now seem to have a dual-boot machine and am feeling like quite the geek.