Dual Booting

When I initially decided to take on the Ubuntu Experiment, my attitude was that I wasn't messing around--I was going to dive in and let the path take me wherever it would lead. Dual-booting, my mind said, with arms crossed, is for sissies and scaredy cats.

After doing some research on the potential problems I could encounter, however, I decided a try-before-you-buy approach was prudent. I use "try-before-you-buy" metaphorically, of course, since installing Ubuntu doesn't cost me a dime.

My biggest concern was hardware compatibility. I frankly had no idea how well the system would be able to recognize the hardware in my Dell laptop. This is actually the first laptop I've ever owned, and all of the desktops I've used in the past ten years I built myself. I never wanted to buy a PC out of the box from a manufacturer primarily because (in the past, at least) they were notoriously proprietary and I always wanted to have an upgrade path.

So the hardware issue was a big question mark for me, especially because I'd read that the Network Manager in Ubuntu is buggy. The number one complaint I encountered in my research was that users couldn't connect to networks wirelessly in Ubuntu. Some even said that on their dual-boot systems they couldn't connect in Windows after loading Ubuntu--because, they argued, Ubuntu wasn't releasing the wireless device on reboot.

Since I depend pretty heavily on my wireless network connection--both at home and at work--this gave me pause to reconsider that "dive in head first" approach.

Instead, I downloaded Wubi.exe, an installer that runs under Windows to create a dual-boot system of sorts. It's not exactly the same as installing from the ISO CD, but it does allow you to boot to an Ubuntu environment to try it out and determine how well it's going to work in your system.

The install program ran for several minutes and then when I rebooted, selecting the Ubuntu option from the boot menu, additional setup was performed for several more minutes before I was ready to officially boot to my new soon-to-be new OS.

As a long-time Windows user (I go back to the Windows 3.1 days), my first reaction to Ubuntu was that it seemed Mac-like. And, yes, after using Vista it seemed rather plain. I wasn't about to complain about that, though. I like things clean and simple, and that's an apt description of Ubuntu--clean and simple.

So, first order of business--see if I can get that wireless network connection up. Um, let's see, now where is that wireless utility. Oh, there it is on the menu bar at the top of the screen--just like on my wife's Apple laptop. Right-click, find my wireless router. Lots of wireless connections in the neighborhood, I see. I'm prompted to enter the passkey. I type it in, Ubuntu connects, no problem, and I'm up and running.

I launch FireFox and, voila!, I'm surfing, just like that. So much for all those concerns about hardware compatibility. The wireless works, sound works, and, obviously, no issues with the video either. I poke around a little and, not surprisingly, have to install some plug-ins for FireFox to be able to view animations and video on various web sites. It's all very easy and painless so far.

Eventually a window pops up announcing that 217 updates are being downloaded. After several minutes, the updates are installed, and it's time for a reboot.

This time, I go back into Vista to verify that everything's working fine on that side of the fence. No issues. Hmm. Reboot into Ubuntu. Everything's looking fine so far.

I get Evolution up and running and connected to my primary mail server. No hitches there, either. I send and receive test messages from different email account to verify that it's working. No issues.

I've already started customizing Ubuntu to make it more like my OS home. I guess that's a good sign. The Ubuntu web site states that it's designed to be simple to use. So far, it lives up to that billing. I will continue to experiment, of course. The ultimate goal is to wean myself from Windows. The basic rule I've decided to apply is, I'll use Ubuntu until I find a situation that requires a reboot to Vista. The fact is, I've got some applications installed under Windows that I depend on and that will not work in Ubuntu. Until I can find a suitable substitute for them, I'll be dual booting.

Next column: Apps, Apps, Apps.