Re: Wubi Installs Ubuntu Onto Windows System "Like An Application"

McFly — 2008-04-21T19:42:04-05:00

Eh, it only works with Ubuntu?

I use Debian a lot, but I'd rather have it running side-by-side in VMware.

Wubi Installs Ubuntu Onto Windows System "Like An Application"

john albrich — 2008-04-21T19:31:48-05:00

Wubi supposedly installs Ubuntu onto a Windows-based system "Like An Application". There is no separate partitioning.

Has anyone here tried Wubi? (A search on the term in HWA's search bar returned 0 matches)

It is pretty intriguing. The CNET video didn't explain whether the Ubuntu .iso it loads is the actual Ubuntu Install .iso, or the LiveCD .iso, so I did some investigating and it uses the LiveCD (aka the "Desktop CD") .iso image.

Wubi is described as a freeware application that installs Ubuntu onto your Windows system "like an application".
After installation, whenever you boot the system you have to choose to boot into Windows or Ubuntu. Seems odd to have a boot manager as part of an "application".Based on their description, that would be kinda like saying "Do you want to boot into Windows or Microsoft Word?", but there we are.

How was your experience?
What problems did you run into?
How was performance?
Were all your data files accessible to Ubuntu applications? For example, are your existing Word documents now accessible and editable by OpenOffice in this Ubuntu "Application"?
If you uninstalled Wubi, did you have any subsequent problems of any kind? Were there any remnants that you had to manually remove?

CNET Video About Wubui
http://reviews.cnet.com/Pain_free_Linux_installation/4660-1016...ml?tag=vid

Download WUBI
http://wubi-installer.org/
http://www.download.com/Wubi/3000-2094_4-10701841.html?tag=lst...d=10702316
(note: at this time, the Wubi-installer.org is providing version 8.04-beta-rev492 while download.com is providing version 7.04.01)

Download Ubuntu "Desktop CD"
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

Important Installation Note Wubi will default install the 64bit version of Ubuntu if your machine has a 64bit processor. To force Wubi to download and install a 32 bit version of Ubuntu you must either pre-download the appropriate 32 bit "Desktop CD" .ISO manually and place it in the same folder as Wubi.exe or start Wubi with the "--32bit" argument. Since Ubuntu supplies all its own drivers at run-time, this may allow you to more or less painlessly try using the 64bit architecture. I'm thinking devices needing proprietary drivers may not work under either version, but basic generic devices should generally be ok. Could be interesting to compare the 32bit and 64bit installs side-by-side.

(BTW, I'm really glad to see CNET totally emphasize the need to backup your data before trying something like this)

edit-add more info re which Ubuntu package is used.
edit to add-the "Important Installation Note"

Hardware Analysis - Wubi Installs Ubuntu Onto Windows System "Like An Application"

Re: Wubi Installs Ubuntu Onto Windows System "Like An Application"

Wubi Installs Ubuntu Onto Windows System "Like An Application"