Windows Vista, Mac OS X Leopard, & Ubuntu "Edgy Eft"

[dougiemeats]

Update

As I mentioned yesterday, the Ubuntu team has made the first alpha release (called Knot 1) available. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu versions are available for download. Here are some links for Ubuntu 6.10 "Edgy Eft" Knot 1:

Ubuntu Screenshots
Kubuntu Screenshots
Kubuntu Knot 1 Information

sprite, there are certainly solutions for your mom's iPod and dad's photos.

iPod+iTunes:
You can download gtkpod or Amarok. I recommend gtkpod since Amarok is a KDE app (though it will run nicely in GNOME). If you want more information on the applications or how to install just ask.

Photos:
What does your dad want to do with photos? He can edit with The GIMP, and organize and view with Google's Picasa or F-Spot. For simple viewing, Ubuntu comes with a viewer similar to Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. The GIMP comes pre-installed with Ubuntu.

Edit: Beaten by emad. You win this round, emad... *shakes fist*

Holy... I wouldn't have installed Ubuntu on a MAC...

Why Knot? (hahahaha I know, worst Ubuntu joke ever...)

 

[Sprite]

Just a quick question, this boot cd ive just downloaded.

"ubuntu-6.06-desktop-i386" once burnt to a cd how do I boot it, from inside windows? or restart the PC and make it boot before windows?

Ubuntu comes with a viewer similar to Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

Thas what I wanted to here, and cheers guys for the rest of the info, plus nobody answered about dual-booting?

 

[MugenVTEC]

Yes. You have to set your BIOS in a way that your CDROM boots before your drives. This way, it'll boot the CD Live. So you have to reboot your pc. I've set my BIOS so I don't to change it everytime I want to load a CD Live (1st Boot: Floppy, 2nd Boot: CDROM, 3rd Boot: IDE-x).

To answer give you a bit of informations about dual-booting with Ubuntu, it is easy. First when you want to install, manually play with your disk partitions (resize your Windows partitions to give Linux some space) and add 2 partitions: linux-swap must be the double of your total of ram (example: I have 1gb of ram, so my linux-swap is 2gb), and / (root partition) in ext3. (If you plan on changing Linux or reformating, you can create a 3rd partition named /home/ where your programs and files goes. This way, when you'll change of Linux or reformat, your files will still be there).

So about dual-booting (sorry I've gone a bit off-topic here), when you install Ubuntu, it will detect if there's another OS on your PC (if you decided to not erase Windows) and will install a GNU bootloader named GRUB. GRUB will be installed on your MBR (Master Boot Record) and will provide you a screen when you launch your pc that will give you the choice of booting Windows or Ubuntu.

Now, I know some people may be affraid of GRUB and the fact that it installs itself on the MBR, but it's nearly unbreakable. I've been affraid myself but faced the music, now I got Windows on a drive, and Ubuntu on the other, with GRUB as bootloader, works great !

 

[dougiemeats]

First, make sure you burn it as an image and not data. Once you have your bootable CD, restart and boot before Windows. (For me, I press the F12 key at the Dell startup logo, then I choose "Boot from CD-ROM")

You've downloaded the Desktop CD so you can use Ubuntu as a Live CD. You can open programs, browse the internet, etc. without messing with your current Windows XP install. Everything is done off the CD. Again, I would try the Live CD on a computer with more RAM, because it was unbearably slow for me with 256 MB RAM.

About dual-booting; it's an excellent way to test a new operating system. I prefer to choose one or the other after testing, but some people actually stick with a dual-boot machine. It's fairly easy to dual boot Ubuntu (you'll find many how-to's).

Edit: Beaten to the punch once again!

 

[Sprite]

Thanks guys, just need to find a blank cd now.

Everything is done off the CD. Again, I would try the Live CD on a computer with more RAM, because it was unbearably slow for me with 256 MB RAM.

Yeh im going to try it on my pc upsairs 1gb ram and very fast hardware so no worrys there, once ive decided what to do I will either leve the pc alone or format and install unbuntu without a dual-boot, but im glad to hear its easier than I thought, just in case i go this rout.

 

[MugenVTEC]

Hope you love Ubuntu and like we did, JOIN THE FREE WORLD !!!

 

[dougiemeats]

For people with fast(er) hardware and a decent card; It might interest you to install Xgl/Compiz on top of Ubuntu. It gives you fun effects such as transparency, wobbly windows, etc., as well as very useful effects such as Mac's awesome Exposé feature.

 

[240^drift]

Im Getting Vista For Less Than $100 Wo0t!

 

[Crash]

It's still going to be quite a while before Vista comes out, and I seriously doubt that the Microsoft Store would have available it is released to the public. They might even run out if the Microsoft employees all go in a mad rush and try and buy it at the store the day it comes out.

 

[GT4_Rule]

Im Getting Vista For Less Than $100 Wo0t!

By waiting 3 years?

 

[HACKr]

I made a n00b mistake by forgetting to turn of the friekin screen saver while updating. Now Ubuntu won't get farther than the login screen. I need to reinstall EVERYTHING.

Well, at least I know not to do that again, plus I'll have more experience setting it up. So it's not that bad.

 

[dougiemeats]

Mistakes are part of the experience. You can research and prepare all you want, but you'll do much of your learning from making mistakes. Besides, breaking things is fun (Especially when you know that you can just start over easily).

Since this thread was really meant for discussion of future operating systems, discussion about current Linux distributions should be discussed in the Linux Transition Thread.

 

[HACKr]

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that thread.

Thanks!

 

[dougiemeats]

Update

* Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promises that new Windows versions will be released more quickly. He said, "We will never have a five-year gap between releases of flagship products," referring to the long wait between Windows XP and Windows Vista.

* Microsoft will begin to charge for Office 2007 Beta 2. The download cost will be $1.50. Microsoft's reason for charging for a public beta is the unusually high number of downloads (more than 3 million) for its next Office version.

Any thoughts on charging a fee for downloading a public beta? Downloads do cost Microsoft money and many users do not actually return any useful feedback to Microsoft.

On the other hand, this is a beta program, and Microsoft benefits from public testing, at little cost compared to private testing. Now they want to charge the people that find and report the bugs to them.

 

[GT4_Rule]

That's pretty bull - charging for a beta program...

But then most downloaders, as mentioned in your post, do not submit feedback.

 

[ozyran]

[geek]
-Is your computer Vista ready? Not yet. I'm only running 1 GB of ram and 128 MB of vid ram - a tad bit LOW to try running Vista optimally, IMO.
-Will you upgrade or just wait until you purchase new PC that already comes w/ Vista? I'm planning on upgrading to an AMD Socket AM2 mobo & proc, followed by SLI
-Are you running XP, or still running a previous version of Windows? XP. Best version of Windows since 3.11, IMO. (Can we go back to DOS being the primary operating system? Please please please? It would make running multiple O/Ss much easier.)
-Do you use any other OS? I've dabbled with Linux, and I have little success using it. You better have your stuff together before using Linux.
-Have you checked out Internet Explorer 7 Beta, Windows Defender, or Windows Media Player 11? Defender and I.E. 7b, yes. I.E. was definitely a beta version. Defender wasn't bad, but since I'm doing PC Cillin, I won't be using it very often.
-Have you already used a developers' build of Vista? If so, what did you think of it? Nope (I wish I could have, though. Tom's Hardware went in depth and it looks awesome!!!)
[/geek]
I wish I could have run Vista. With all the features I've seen available to it (previews of the window you switch to on the taskbar, etc.) I wish I could have had a chance to play with it. I'm kinda wondering about this new O/S, though...it seems like it's going to be a pretty powerful system. My apologies if someone already asked this, but does anyone know which version of Vista will be set up as a 64-bit O/S? Or will it be integrated into the O/S as a user option?

 

[jimihemmy]

Thanks guys, just need to find a blank cd now.



Yeh im going to try it on my pc upsairs 1gb ram and very fast hardware so no worrys there, once ive decided what to do I will either leve the pc alone or format and install unbuntu without a dual-boot, but im glad to hear its easier than I thought, just in case i go this rout.

I would recommend that if you do find a linux you like, you should do a dual-boot set up. That way, you mom could still use what she is used to and you and your dad could choose which OS you want to use.

As long as you show everyone how to boot to what they want, it should be ok. That way you have both and you won't be forcing them to have to learn a new OS...they could just boot to Linux when they want to try it, then restart when they have had enough.

its a win-win for everyone....

dual-booting is not that hard....it partitioning the drives beforehand that can be complicated.

 

[dougiemeats]

ozyran,

From what I have read, all Windows Vista editions (except for Vista Starter) will come with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions in the box, on separate DVDs.

 

[Burnout]

I would recommend that if you do find a linux you like, you should do a dual-boot set up. That way, you mom could still use what she is used to and you and your dad could choose which OS you want to use.

As long as you show everyone how to boot to what they want, it should be ok. That way you have both and you won't be forcing them to have to learn a new OS...they could just boot to Linux when they want to try it, then restart when they have had enough.

its a win-win for everyone....

dual-booting is not that hard....it partitioning the drives beforehand that can be complicated.

Linux also runs extremely well inside of a virtual PC (Microsoft Virtual PC2004, VMware Workstation or Server).. Just make sure your computer has at least 1GB of RAM.

 

[dougiemeats]

Demo of Windows Vista's voice recognition feature.

 

[Burnout]

Demo of Windows Vista's voice recognition feature.

*snip*

Ha.

Well personally I've tried it.. It's a bit tempermental, as they say, but once you get the hang of it, it actually works pretty well.

That must've sucked for MS, though.

 

[ozyran]

Demo of Windows Vista's voice recognition feature.

I wonder what Bill thought when he saw the demo

 

[GT4_Rule]

Well obviously it's going to take a while until true voice recognition will come around...

I like the video though

 

[dougiemeats]

I've been providing news and information on Vista for a while now, but I haven't actually tried the product out myself. I finally installed Beta 2 on a P4 2.8GHz; 512 MB RAM; integrated graphics. I didn't expect much and not surprisingly, Vista gave the computer a rating of 1.

However, what did surprise me was how stable and quick Vista ran. I'm running the Vista Basic interface (no aero for me) and it runs very smoothly. Not what I expected.

I've heard many complaints about the beta, but my experience has been good so far. I haven't experimented much, however, and have only installed one application. I'll give it more time and post more about it later.

 

[GT4_Rule]

Ohh, so I can use your experience as mine (literally) then. I run Pentium 4, 2.8GHz and 512MB RAM. Don't know about your graphic card though.

If it sounds good and stable, then I will install it sometime this month. (or hopes to...)

 

[dougiemeats]

Ohh, so I can use your experience as mine (literally) then. I run Pentium 4, 2.8GHz and 512MB RAM. Don't know about your graphic card though.

Since we have similar specs, is there any applications you'd like me to install? Any Windows applications you'd like me to test out (Photo Gallery, Calendar, etc.)?

This is basically a test system, so no worries on losing any data should anything go wrong. So just let me know if you want me to try something to see how Vista reacts.

 

[GT4_Rule]

Hmm...

I think Firefox, Windows Live Messenger, and (probably not this but) USR 802.11g Wireless Utility - the wireless utility I use. Probably not the last one though, you'd need the Wireless PCI adapter to test it out.

Oh, and iTunes please

Thanks dougiemeats 👍

 

[dougiemeats]

1. Firefox installs and runs fine. No problems there.

2. Windows Live Messenger installs fine. I don't normally use this instant messenger, but I had a brief conversation with my brother and everything seemed to function as they should. There were a couple things I noticed though. I don't know if this is normal, but I couldn't drag the window to the top of the screen (does it do the same with XP?):


Another thing, after I exited messenger, this appeared:


But this happens on XP with various applications after closing them, so probably nothing of concern. Other than those two minor things, I'd say Live Messenger performs well.

3. iTunes and Quicktime install fine. One strange thing about iTunes is the desktop and Quick Launch icons are blank:


Also, I have read that iTunes and Quicktime act strangely with Aero glass. I believe Windows changes to the Basic Interface when the applications are in use. I don't have Aero enabled so iTunes worked without problems for me.

Those were just my initial reactions, but I'll use them more and report back if I run into any problems. I'm disappointed that nothing has broken or crashed yet (IE7+ has yet to crash!). That's usually the fun part about testing. I think I need to experiment some more and see if I can break this thing.

 

[MugenVTEC]

1. Firefox installs and runs fine. No problems there.

2. Windows Live Messenger installs fine. I don't normally use this instant messenger, but I had a brief conversation with my brother and everything seemed to function as they should. There were a couple things I noticed though. I don't know if this is normal, but I couldn't drag the window to the top of the screen (does it do the same with XP?):


Another thing, after I exited messenger, this appeared:


But this happens on XP with various applications after closing them, so probably nothing of concern. Other than those two minor things, I'd say Live Messenger performs well.

3. iTunes and Quicktime installs fine. One strange thing about iTunes is the desktop and Quick Launch icons are blank:


Also, I have read that iTunes and Quicktime acts strangely with Aero glass. I believe Windows changes to the Basic Interface when the applications are in use. I don't have Aero enabled so iTunes worked without problems for me.

Those were just my initial reactions, but I'll use them more and report back if I run into any problems. I'm disappointed that nothing has broken or crashed yet (IE7+ has yet to crash!). That's usually the fun part about testing. I think I need to experiment some more and see if I can break this thing.

Microsoft VS Linux - Starring Bill Gates and a Microsoft dude talking together, the Ubuntu Linux president and the Devil as himself.

Moral is: Linux is the creation of the devil. PURE AND EVIL !!!


Point is, Linux don't have stupid bugs like that, even if Vista still a beta.

 

[dougiemeats]

Point is, Linux don't have stupid bugs like that, even if Vista still a beta.

There are more bugs in Ubuntu than you think.

Edit: "Microsoft has a majority market share" is one of the bugs that's rated critical.