Are you a Windows user who is curious to try Linux (Ubuntu in particular) because you have heard so many good things about the OS from your geek friends?
There are two ways to use Linux on a Windows computer. You can either install the full Linux OS alongside Windows, or if you are just starting with Linux for the first time, the other easy option is that you run Linux virtually with making any change to your existing Windows setup.
The former option will offer the best performance because all your system resources will be available to Linux but the latter option is absolutely risk-free and therefore recommended for novice users. You’ll be able to test drive Linux but without changing a single file on your Windows computer.
Running Ubuntu Linux with Windows
Let’s look at some of the easiest ways to use Linux on a Windows computer. Linux is available in multiple flavors (your friends may call them Linux distros) but here, let’s focus on the desktop edition of Ubuntu, perhaps the most popular and actively developed Linux distribution.
A: Test-Drive Linux Online as a Web App
Perhaps the easiest way to try Linux on your Windows Desktop is inside your web browser. Go to edubuntu.org, fill that simple form and within a minute, you’ll have the full version of Ubuntu Linux running on your desktop inside a Java applet.
There’s absolutely no need to download or install anything on your computer and a single session can last up to two hours. You get access to all the features that are available in the standard desktop edition of Ubuntu Linux including the ability to download and install new packages from the Linux repository.
B: Run Linux from a USB Stick or a CD
The most popular option to test-drive Linux on Windows is a LiveCD. Though it says “CD,” you can also use a USB Flash Drive as a LiveCD (without having to burn a CD).
To get started, download the latest version of Ubuntu to your desktop. This is an ISO file (also known as a CD image) that is around 650 MB in size. If you don’t have a great Internet connection, you can always borrow the Ubuntu CD from a friend (yes, its perfectly legal) or order a readymade live CD from OSDisc.com.
Once you have Ubuntu ISO image file, grab an empty USB disk and use UNetbootin to quickly turn that USB drive into a bootable Ubuntu disk for Ubuntu without having to burn a CD. Insert the bootable USB flash drive into your Windows computer and reboot. If this doesn’t work, go to the BIOS boot menu and change the boot sequence.
