Chrome OS … Assisin of MS ??

Google Says:

“the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web” “so it is our effort to re-think what operating systems should be”

Well we have bn seeing OS since the age where there was no Internet or rather Internet was not a cup of tea for all. There has always been a debate on Microsoft Windows Operating systems and Open source community and perhaps same debate and “fight” has been going on between the Microsoft OS users and Open Source OS users. Well anyway, now the greatest excitement is apart from all these and the great success of Google Chrome browser now they’ve announced about the Chrome OS.

Not just this, but Chrome OS is also going to be an Open Source based Operating system. Google Chrome OS could prove itself to be an Assasin of MS world. We all have been using Microsoft Products and mainly its OS, so the whole perspective of an Operating System is different for us or perhaps all of us. There has always been a race of who wins the market Open source or Microsoft which is not going anywhere for its obvious reasons.

Chrome OS claims that it is going to change the whole idea and the perspective by which an OS is viewed and has been viewed by its users through out the world. For us OS is just a piece of software on the Hard Drive inside our computer chassis but Chrome OS is going to be completely a new idea. With Chrome OS the new era of  “Total Integration with Web” will be brought in, in Chrome OS of course the  earlier paradigm of an OS will be taken care off, but the main idea of Chrome is that, it will be completely Integrated with the Web. As per them and the analysis, it is said that earlier paradigm of Operating Systems (the way we are using and what we are using today) will be getting thinner and will vanish completely someday.

Now the question is how much successfull and usefull Chrome OS will be? Will this be welcomed by users like us, who just not only stay online on the web but also use their computers for more activities like, Gaming, Multimedia, Movies, etc. Will today’s community of gamers and mutimedia users welcome Chrome OS? or will it just repeat the same scenario of arguements that we have even today between Microsoft OS and Apple OS and Open Source Linux / Unix OS? As said by google, this Chrome OS will be supported on both x86 systems and ARM based systems.

What will be the next step by Microsoft? (we are not considering Linux here as they are in their own good world for now).. what will Microsoft get in their next product Windows 8? What will be the scenario of Chrome OS in many under developed and developing countries like India, etc?? In India still cheaper broadband and 24/7 Internet usage is not so cheap for many Indians even in today’s life here.. Well thats a completely different issue.

…Lets wait and watch what really happens with Chrome OS and more details behind the whole idea of Total Integration with WEB thingy.. Will they conside other facts of the OS which are pointed out by its users today?? What will happen with the big talks about Apple-Google? Or is it just going to be another Linux based open source wanna be operating system??

Journey through 125 Years old Wireless Technology.

We all are so fascinated by this wireless technology that it just gets interesting to know about its history and origin. Wireless technology made our lives so convinient when they started using the wireless in the form of Remot Controls then getting on other hope appliances.

Well y’day i was just watching my Television and i came accross just a random show on Discovery channel where they were showing about some old Technologies used in communications (wireless) used in olden days and also how they used to use it during World War days.  I just came online today morning and came accross this beautiful simple and easy resourcefull article of Wireless Technology and its origin / discovery and the journey till date and i really felt that i should be putting this up on my blog.

So, What is Wireless Technology? Define Wireless Technology Communication: In layman’s language it can be described as using technology to transfer information over a distance without using any wires. Wireless communication is not new and has been in use for well over 125 years now. Through this article we trace the origin of this technology and its evolution to its present form. Here is the timeline of wireless technology.

 So now, lets see how amazing it was to have this wireless technology discoved 125years back and since then the implementation of this Awesome Technology.

1887: The principle of wireless communication was presented by German physicist Heinrich Hertz in the year 1887. Hertz demonstrated how electromagnetic waves could be transmitted across free space. This was an expansion of the theory of electromagnetic theory of light put forth earlier by James Maxwell and Michael Faraday. Though Hertz managed to demonstrate it, he never tried to take it any further, even remarking that it would be of no significance.

 1897: Guglielmo Marconi is awarded the British Patent for ‘Improvements in transmitting electrical impulses and signals and in apparatus there-for’. What this effectively means is that he was granted the rights to the Radio.

1898: Nikola Tesla demonstrates a remote control boat. It would be amusing to know that people watching this demonstration thought Tesla was controlling the boat using his mind, as nobody seemed to have any information about radio waves at that time.

1906: Amplitide Modulation (AM) is used by Reginald Fessenden to broadcast his voice over the North Atlantic. This mode of radio transmission is the same as Shortwave and Medium wave in use today.

1915: First transatlantic transmission takes place. AT&T achieves this radio transmission from Arlington, Virginia to Paris using the Eiffel Tower to hold the receiving antenna.

1919: Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is incorporated by General Electric (GE) on Oct. 17 specifically to acquire the assets of the wireless radio company American Marconi from British Marconi.

1921: Shortwave (SW) radio is developed. It is called Shortwave because the wavelength of light is shorter than visible light due to the higher frequency. Shortwave Radio (also known as High Frequency or HF radio) has a frequency of 2.310 Megahertz to 25.820 Megahertz. The benefit of Shortwave radio is that the waves can bounce off the ionosphere (the layer of atmosphere consisting of ions or charged particles), enabling transmission to the other side of the world without actually having a direct line of sight.

1931: Frequency Modulation or FM is developed by Edwin H. Armstrong. FM transmission is less prone to noise associated with AM transmission and therefore results in a clearer broadcast. Also, it is possible to transmit stereo signals, making it suitable for musical radio broadcasts.

1982: The GSM (Groupe Special Mobile) group is formed and decides on a digital system for its cellular systems.

1983: After decades of stagnation in wireless communication technology, 802.3 standard is created by IEEE and additions to its specifications are made regularly.

 1987: GSM Technical details are worked out in this year. A narrowband time division multiple access (TDMA) system is also planned.

 1990: L-band radio is demonstrated (digital radio). The Global Positioning System (GPS) operates in the L-Band. Also, first GSM specifications are released.

 1991: The first GSM call is made in Finland (March) on the Radiolinja network, which got its GSM license in 1990. This is the precursor to Wi-Fi developed by NCR Corporation in the Netherlands with speeds up to 1-2 Mb/s.

 1992: First GSM network outside Europe network is launched in Australia on April 27 providing service to 53% of the Australian population.

 1997: IEEE 802.11 (also known as Wi-Fi) standard is created. This original 802.11 specification has a maximum bandwidth of 2 Mb/s.

 1998: The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was formed in September of 1998 by Ericsson, Intel, IBM, Toshiba and Nokia. The formal announcement of the SIG takes place next year on May 20, 1999.

 1999: IEEE 802.11b is added to the 802.11 standard. Transmission speeds up to 11 Mb/s are possible. Bluetooth 1.0 (IEEE 802.15.1) specification is released. In this, all hardware identifies itself in the handshake process and renders anonymous data reception and transmission impossible. EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) is developed by Qualcomm.

 2000: The first consumer Bluetooth product – a wireless headset and phone adapter for mobile phones is released by Ericsson.

 2001: The first 3G network is commercially launched in September by NTT DoCoMo, Japan. In December, IEEE 802.16 standard, also known as WiMAX, is created.

 2002: The first UMTS network is launched allowing high-speed applications such as mobile TV and video calling.

 2003: EDGE is deployed by AT&T on Singular network in the USA. IEEE 802.11g is added to the 802.11 standard, allowing transmission speeds up to 54 Mb/s. Bluetooth specification 1.2 is released. This new specification includes Adaptive Frequency-hopping (AFH), which reduces RF interference.

 2004: Newest version of IEEE 802.16 is added and it completely changes the WiMAX standard. This has a new scheduling algorithm, which makes WiMAX much more scalable than Wi-Fi. Instead of the random way in which subscribers compete in Wi-Fi, they compete once for a time to call when they connect to the network, thereby reducing collisions when transmission occurs at specified times. Bluetooth specification 2.0 is released. This new specification is not only backward compatible but also introduces Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), which allows transmission of data up to 3 MB/s.

 2009: 802.11n – the latest in Wi-Fi standards will be formally approved in November 2009 (although devices sporting this standard are already available, they are not necessarily conformant with the final specifications). 

Source: TechTree.

Intel’s New Products Series (i3, i5 & i7) and their Name Solution.

Intel recently unveiled their revised branding structure for their multitude of processors. The new scheme plans to do away with superfluous brand names, and unite their product line into their most popular “hero” brand Intel Core.

 

The rebranding strategy is designed around the segregating their product lines according to which product is “good” which is “better” and which is the “best”. They will continue with their Celeron and Pentium brands, however other brands will be united under the Intel Core Brand, as i3, i5, or i7 based on the feature set and specifications.

 

Simple?
Not quite! According to Intel, i3, i5, and i7 are modifiers to their Core brand, and dont form brands of their own. Intel Core i3 will represent their entry-level products, Core i5 will be mid-level, and Core i7 represents the high-level products regardless of architecture. Their upcoming “Lynfield” chip for example will come in both Core i5 and Core i7 flavors.

 

Over time they wish to evolve to this new naming convention while phasing out old brand names. One of the casualties of this evolution being their Centrino chipset range, which will be phased out slowly, by first “transitioning” the Centrino brand to their WiFi and WiMAX product offerings.

 

So let’s see what we have here. We have Atom for notebooks and smartbooks, Celeron for “good” computing, Pentium for “better” computing, and there range of Core products for “best” computing. Of course their Core line is again divided into entry-level with Core i3, mid-level with Core i5 and high-level with Core i7. Certainly more structured, but not so much simplified!

 

For one it is difficult to tell at a glance what will fall in where, however considering that this is a naming structure for products that haven’t come out yet it is difficult to see how effective it’ll be. As for this evolution, it has already begun, Intel Core i7 processors have been available for quite some time now, and this year we will begin to see some Core i5s, and Core i3 will be available early next year.

 

With a brand structure built like this it will be easier for people to judge relate merits while buying a computer. The purpose of this structure seems to be simplifying selection by clearly branding products as netry / mid / high level instead on nomenclature like Core 2, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad which is bound to leave some confused. By having a peek at the specification of any computer of tomorrow yuou may be able to ascertain whether it is an entry-level, mid or high, just by seeing if it’s driven be an i3, i5, or i7. Till that happens though, we have some confusing times ahead!

 

Source: TDigit.

New iPhone Nano Rumors (Old News rumored in Jan 09).

Ever since Macworld has come and gone, one had to figure that any new iPhone this year would be coming at the mid-year point… during the WWDC in June (Worldwide Developers Conference). More and more rumors are appearing to support that notion.

A Taiwanese newspaper, the Economic Daily News has clamied that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is lining up chip suppliers for an iPhone Nano. The report notes that chip contracting firm ‘Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’ (catchy name) and ‘United Microelectronics Corporation’ (slightly catchier) are ‘likely’ to get contracts to manufacture chips for the new Nano… They would start production in March of this year.

Electronista has also reported that AT&T (NYSE: T) hasn’t tested any new iPhone device from Apple yet… Which would seem to support the idea that the handsets haven’t been manufactured yet. If this is the case, I hope Apple has everything lined up… and that things go smoothly for a June announcement. That said, Apple could always announce the device and launch it at a later date, perhaps in time for the 2009 holiday season?

SOME MORE PICTURES

Source: Intomobile, Engadget, Gadgetzone (pics).

New iPhone leaks: Awaiting Confirmation WWDC

Apple WWDC 2009 conference is still a couple days away, but we may have spied the new iPhone… again. French website Nowhere Else has posted what could very well be spy shots of the upcoming iPhone. The familiar looking iPhone you see in the pics sports a matte-black finish and a blacked-out bezel. The allegedly leaked pics also show what looks to be a front-facing camera and an Apple logo that looks like it could glow. There is also some sort of a new (in iPhones) video chat feature. The front-facing camera sure would be a perfect way to make use of a new video-enabled iChat! If real, these spy shots confirm that the next iPhone will look a good deal like the iPhone 3G. We’ll have to wait until WWDC to find out just what kind of hardware lies beneath that matte-black shell. What do you think? What kind of features are you hoping to see in the new iPhone? Well one thing is for sure and that is after having this matte-black body, this will provide a more sturdy grip while holding the phone and there should be a little less heating up of the device as with the alumium body the centre part of the back panel of the phone got really hot while using or charing,etc. Still to be honest, i wont call this a major upgrade for the iPhone as apparently it seems that the cam is still going to remain the same old 2 mega pixels and not much words are yet out on its real features, etc. Well we cant really complain about the fact of low cam to the Apple, coz iPhone isnt at all a camera phone. Apple iPhone itself is a premium phone in this genre of the cell phones. Its just mainly “sort of” smart phone with amazing and smoothest touch screen feature.. the best touch screen responsiveness on the planet probably. This phone also is sort of Musicky phone for the iphod features and stuffs its has.. but again its not a Music Phone. iPhone is typically an Apple product.. as you all know about the Apple computers, the type of customers they have and then the type of fan following they have. …So lets wait and watch! (I’ll be adding and editing the new features here right below as soon as they are published over the net, so keep checking back the blog!).

LATEST UPDATES ON THE NEW IPHONE:

NEW PIC SHOWING THE DIGITAL MAGNETIC COMPASS.

SOME CONFIRMED UPDATES AND CONFIRMED FEATURES IN THE NEW IPHONE:

Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device

Apple logo on the back to light up

Rubber-tread backing

Sleeker design

32GB and 16GB to replace current capacities

$199 and $299 price-points to be maintained

3.2 Megapixel camera

Video recording & editing capabilities

Ability to send a picture & video via MMS

OLED screen

1.5X the battery life

Double the RAM and processing power

Built-in FM transmitter

Built-in compass

Revolutionary combination of the camera, GPS, compass, and Google maps to identify photo and inform about photo locations

Turn by turn directions

It’s hard to argue with an upgraded screen, better battery life and a beefier processor. It sounds like the form factor itself isn’t going to change, so we might be able to put those Iphone Nano rumours(will add up soon to the blog) to bed (again). If the July 17th. release date actually pans out, it seems likely that Apple will announce the device at WWDC, which is coming up soon.

Source: Intomobile

Ubuntu 9.10 : Karmic Koala – Complete Overview

Ubuntu community has been graphically the richest distro in the entire Linux community. When we actually talked about Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex, people went ga ga over the desktop theme above anything else. This time too, after the announcement of Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope due for today), the community is buzzing up with the talks of the newest version of Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala. If we are to start in one line then, the desktop side will focus on beautification and an improved boot-up experience; the server side will target cloud computing.

Mark Shuttleworth’s version of Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala will feature:
1.better integration with cloud-computing environments, and the simplification of cloud creation using open-source tools on Ubuntu Server Edition.
2.faster boot
3.seamless netbook support
4.taking advantage of kernel mode setting to make the boot process and virtual terminals shinier and snappier

Server Version
Amazon EC-2 Integration
Ubuntu aims to keep free software at the forefront of cloud computing by embracing the API’s of Amazon EC2, and making it easy for anybody to setup their own cloud using entirely open tools. The plans is also to fix a set of standard Ubuntu server Amazon Machine Image (AMI) profiles that will provide a starting point for creating specialized images. This will help to simplify deployment of Ubuntu on Amazon’s EC2 platform.

Eucalyptus project
The Eucalyptus project, from UCSB, enables you to create an EC2-style cloud in your own data center, on your own hardware. And then Shuttleworth quite characteristically with his subtle sense added,

A savvy Koala knows that the best way to conserve energy is to go to sleep, and these days even servers can suspend and resume, so imagine if we could make it possible to build a cloud computing facility that drops its energy use virtually to zero by napping in the midday heat, and waking up when there’s work to be done. No need to drink at the energy fountain when there’s nothing going on. If we get all of this right, our Koala will help take the edge off the bear market.

So the bottom line is, this will enable organizations to get many of the advantages of elastic computing in their own data centers, including the ability to scale down power consumption when load is low.

Desktop & Netbook Version
Beautification
As the saying goes, “There is never a second chance to the first impression”. And Karmic Koala believes in just that. The beautification is of prior importance, so much so that Shuttleworth is confident that the users will be impressed from the booting time only. Red Hat’s Plymouth (a new graphical boot process that is able to benefit from the latest Linux graphics capabilities) is something they are trying to integrate to this version of Ubuntu.

Usplash (a userspace application that uses the Linux framebuffer interface or direct vesa access to draw a splash screen at boot) is not into consideration.

Performance
Though its apparently obvious to us that any rich visual experience comes at the cost of the the speed of the computer but Karmic Koala may become an exception. The team plans to make it boot in less than 25 seconds on a netbook!

Ubuntu Netbook Remix (a ‘remix’ of the standard Ubuntu Desktop release to enable it to work better on devices with small screens, such as Netbooks (sub-notebooks)) will be installed pretty easily and will be working brilliantly on all the latest netbook hardware.

Ubuntu will import work from Intel’s Moblin project to better support Atom-based netbooks.

WishList
I will wish to see a lot of simple things done with finally.

1.Can we see a change in the much controversial orange-brown theme that Ubuntu always comes up with in name of improvements! A different color combination will be a welcome change. Its not just like that silver and blue are preferred by companies like Microsoft, Apple et al. not to forget the sweet competitor Fedora.
2.Moblin or Netbook Remix, it doesn’t matter. The next time I buy my netbook, I won’t be too happy to complain again in the Ubuntu community about a normal service I am not getting. There are enough of them lodged already.
3.I will like a more themable GNome Panel. Better integration of Compiz Fusion, for those who use it. As is, it lacks all sorts of polish.

Schedule

Conclusion
Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala is going to have its first developers’ conference on May 29th, 2009. It will be too much of a prediction to appreciate/ criticize anything beforehand. For that matter, let’s hope that Ubuntu 9.10 will have some really cool featurs inside and not just looks ‘coz you have some big players scheduled right up (Windows 7 for e.g.). All beauty and all brains will just be a composition that Ubuntu will need to attract the elusive crowd.

Source: Taragana

Dino blood extracted from ancient bone… Wow.. Whts gonna be Next?

NEW YORK: Paleontologists have extracted the “first dinosaur blood” from its bone, a finding they claim could resolve doubts about a previous report
that also claimed to have extracted dino tissue from fossils.

A team at North Carolina State University extracted a mix of proteins and microstructures, resembling cells from a plant-eating hadrosaur’s bone, which has been buried for 80 million years, the ‘New Scientist’ reported.

Proteins such as collagen are far more durable than DNA, but they had not been expected to last the 65 million years since the dinosaurs died out.

So, the team attracted attention when they reported finding first soft tissue and collagen from Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone that was intact until it’s broken during excavation. They then took a look at the pristine leg bone that had been encased in sandstone for 80 million years.

The paleontologists exhaustively tested the sample, sequencing the proteins they found with a new and better mass spectrometer and sending samples to two other laboratories for verification.

Now, they have reported recovering not just collagen – which conveys little evolutionary information because it is the same in almost all animals, but also hemoglobin, elastin and laminin, as well as cell-like structures resembling blood and bone cells.

According to the paleontologists, the proteins should reveal more about dinosaur evolution as they vary much more between species.

The findings are published in the ‘Science’ journal.

Source

Wow.. now whts gonna be the next thing from the Paleontologists?? A Dino TestTube baby?? Woah! i wonder who’ll be the Mom??? THey could also try mutating the tissues and DNA obtained from this blood with the Humans and we can have Dino-Human! or rather a DinoMan (or Woman). GUess.. that would be a Human with Dino characteristics? or a Dino with human characteristics??? or the best.. A Human with DIno transformation capability??? Like ur a HUman.. and when ur hungry or angry.. u can transform into a Dino??

PS: I know i added up lame crap

Official: Windows 7 RC publicly available May 5th???

There certainly has been a lot of discussion about Windows 7 in the last few weeks. A lot of folks want to know when they can get their hands on the official RC, when we are going to RTM, and what I had for breakfast.

I’m pleased to share that the RC is on track for April 30th for download by MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Broader, public availability will begin on May 5th.

On behalf of everyone here, I would to thank all of our beta testers for helping us get to this point. You guys have been busy. At the peak of the feedback cycle, we were receiving a “Send Feedback” report every 15 seconds for an entire week. Since then, the engineering team has been busy analyzing the feedback, fixing bugs, and working hard to improve the overall experience. Many of your suggestions helped us refine the new and improved taskbar, the behavior of Aero Peek, Touch, Windows Media Player, and much more.

You can check on its some more features here and here

Sources: Uncle Google and some Windows 7 official news sources.

The Human Baby Comes home Finally All The Way From THE NETHERLANDS ..!!

So guys, another morning of my life where i woke up almost around noon after a late night / early morning sleep. Well the morning was “Just another Morning” till i came out after having shower and my mom told me that i’d received a parcel via courier. For a sec, i was like ahh..what is it? But, after i read / saw the THIK BOLD LETTERS UBUNTU KUBUNTU and UBUNTU SERVER i got a big smile on my Face . Mine is Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition.

So, finally i got my Human Baby come home all the way from The Netherlands. Dont worry dont be freaked by the word “HUMAN BABY”, dont worry, as i am just talking about Ubuntu . A few days back, i had ordered a Free CD of Ubuntu fromt their website and i finally got it today . The packing was damn simple (nothing flashy as i had thought about) but then as its said Linux is all about Simplicity from outside and the magic from inside .

FRONT

BACK

Okay, now lets open it.. and as i said Linux is all about outer simplicity and inner magical beauty, the packing was the same as well . After i opened a simple looking packing, i realized the awesome way they had used to pack the CD. It was a simple paper envelope which had Bubble Wrap pasted on the inner side of the Ubuntu Envelope. Lets move on further and lets remove the baby out side. Ah, TADA!! what do i see 1st?? a Strip of Ubuntu Stickers (which i’ve always wanted to stick around on my System and the Laptop, instead of Windows Vista certified) .

The Sticker Strip which has 4 x Ubuntu Linux for Human Beings stickers

Now, lets go more further and lets remove the Human skin colored (Human Visual / default theme of Ubuntu) Packet and lets open it to see what it has in it!
This is how the CD Packet looks like

Whoa! after opening the CD Pack, u see some features of Ubuntu and of course, a definition of What is Ubuntu? printed on the inner and outer side of the CD Pack

Now lets take out the CD

Thats all folks, its an awesome experience to have the Official Ubuntu FREEE Operating System CD from The Netherlands !! Soon am gonna place and order for Free cd of KUbuntu. This is the very same OS on the CD which is available to download from their site in the .ISO form. Yes this is integrated with Wubi as well . Thanks for reading and checking out my Blog ..!!

PS: Sorry for the blurry pics as they were taken in Hurry! and now i am gonna rush to put the stickers on my Desktop and the Laptop (yea, may be i’ll put those pics later )

Guide: Installing Intrepid using Wubi (Linux Within Windows)

Hey guys,

Recently, i took Linux / Ubuntu seriously and started installing Ubuntu on my Laptop. Well i was kinda afraid in the beginning, but then thanks to the feature called “Wubi” (you can also check here). Wubi is a small awesome application for Linux which lets you to install Ubuntu on your Windows itself like any other application you install on Windows system. Normally, when you need to install Linux / Ubuntu as ppl are aware, they need ext3 format partition. The best part of Wubi is it lets you to install the linux on the very same NTFS partition on which you’ve installed your windows and if you feel linux is not of your taste or you dont get used to its system and feel windows is more of your taste (or if you swear to support Billu), all you have to do is, login to your normal Windows a/c, go to Add/Remove programs(XP) or Programs and Features(Vista & Windows 7) and look for Ubuntu / Linux and just double click on it to uninstall. This will uninstall the whole Ubuntu / Linux just like you uninstall your any other Operating System . Trust me its such helluva lovely experience that now i’ve installed Ubuntu on proper EXT3 format on my laptop and its just SIMPLY ROCKIN’!!!

Yes, i know after reading what you are thinking.. “If i install Ubuntu the way u’ve mentioned, will i get a dual boot option while booting my system?”. The answer to that question is Yes. It will act as a dual boot giving you option to select Windows or Ubuntu ….yea, i know its Pretty much kewl .

Now getting on to the point “Installing Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex”. It is really gr8 to know that the 8.10 version of Ubuntu (which is Intrepid Ibex) comes integrated with Wubi). Am writing this beginner’s guide to show you how do you install Intrepid Ibex on your windows system without formatting your hdd partition, being afraid of screwing up your data, hijacking your windows , being afraid of installing this on your brand new laptop by thinking that this may void the warranty or may screw up the paritions and stuffs leading to the re-installation of the whole laptop. Trust me, installing this on your laptop should not be a problem for your laptop’s warranty as what you are installing is a Free Source Operating System, which you do not need to buy or there is not situation of installing its pirated.

This guide that am writing is for Installing Ubuntu on Windows Vista(SP1) or Windows XP SP2 Machines. The screenshots that i’ve used in this guide is from my own Vista machine as i did not have XP machine ready. Following are the requirements for installing Ubuntu using Wubi on Windows:

• Windows Machine
• 6GB of HDD space (i use and suggest 10GB of HDD space) …preferably on your Windows “C” drive.
• Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex 8.10 Installation CD (Source)
• Ofcourse, a CD writer / Rom (and a CD burning software to burn the ISO of ubuntu on a CD and use it for installation)
• A Must & Very Important: An internet connection (higher the better) for updating the Ubuntu system after finishing the installation.
• It would be also good if you install it on a Windows system with atleast 2gb of RAM, although no such high requirements and can easily be done on 1gb RAM system as well.
• A graphics card in the system or your laptop would be gr8 as it’d do wonders later after you finish installing the whole thing. To use and enable the features like Compiz, etc you need to have a gfx card in ur system to have a flawless performance and smooth UI. Although an Intel OnBoard X3100 Graphics Chipset can also help with Compiz, etc but it will be a little slow or laggy (at times). No hard and fast requirement like Windows Vista.
• A MAIN STEP YOU NEED TO DO IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO INSTALL THIS ON YOUR LAPTOP. The Ubuntu CD that you download and burn on the CD is a Live CD which means you can boot from it and can also use its Operating System features from the CD itself. What you need to do is before you start on with any of the installation process, just boot using the Live CD and see if your laptop hardwares are all detected and are ready to use OUT OF THE BOX. Like my wifi card, when i booted from my Live CD, wifi worked with my wireless network and i was able to surf, chat online, etc. so this indicated that its gonna be fine on my laptop and i can go ahead and install it.

Awrite folks, so lets get started. Now that i’ve done this on Vista, firstly you need to login to your Windows a/c normally (as an administrator ofcourse). Insert your Ubuntu CD into your CD drive and wait for its auto play.

Once it starts the Autoplay on Vista, it’ll give 2 options, 1st is Ubuntu (with ubuntu logo) and 2nd is the browse the cd option. You need to click on Ubunt option and then it’ll display a window with 3 options. You need to select the middle (second) option Install Inside Windows. Check out the pictures.

After you click on Install Inside Windows, you’ll be taken to the next window which will look like this. Keep the options exactly the way i’ve kept. Ofcourse, you can select your own Username and password . In ubuntu or linux, it wont allow you to use a username with a combination of a capital letter, like my username is “b00gieMan” but here it didnt accept that and hence i had to use “b00gieman”.  BTW, that fingerprint thing you can see on the left hand side corner of the windows, you guys may not get that if your laptop doesnt have a fingerprint reader . Its better if you select the installation drive as your C drive. Installation size, if you see in the drop down menu, it has sizes from 4gb to 15gb which is like an awesome option. I’ve used and would suggest 10gb of space (which is still alot but you can use 6gb).

After this just click on Install and it will start the installation like any other windows application. This process is very fast and will hardly consume any time of yours. Just sit back and enjoy the Pure Moment of Awesomeness while it installs the whole OS in just a Zooooooomm speed, even less hectic and more simpler than you install Photoshop or MS Office or any such application on your windows system .

Once the installation is done, it’ll reboot the computer and it may eject the tray of your cd drive.. well if it does then just simply keep the cd there itself and again push the tray back and continue with the installation procedure.

After the system restarts it’ll again further continue with the minor installation formalities like checking swap, checking partition format, etc. which again nothing has to be done from the User’s side.. all is done automatically. After finishing this process it again may or may not reboot the computer and after that you’ll be Welcomed with the Ubuntu Human Welcome screen asking for the Username and Password. Just type in the Username and Password that you assigned wile installing Ubuntu using Wubi under windows. At this moment, just keep your speakers on so that you can hear the sound of loging in.. which is the sound of “War Drums” and vollah your set on your Ubuntu, the World of Awesomeness .

The Freshly installed Ubuntu will look very simple which some love it and some feel its sad and why so old school types… but trust me thz not the case . The desktop will look like this (this desktop isnt mine.. as i’ve completely customized my ubuntu and i was too lazy to get this look back just for taking a screenshot. This is just some random pic i took from Uncle Google ). Once you reach here, it may show up some bubble saying something about restricted drivers.. well, just ignore all that and continue with the steps mentioned below. Those bubbles are nothing but just an alert for your GFX Card / WIFI Card.

Okay, now that the installation is finished and done, comes the crucial part of updating the Ubuntu and installing Nvidia / ATI Drivers (if you have any of those cards in your system). So now after installing Ubuntu make sure you’ve got an Internet connection. Peferably a 256KBps and above connection would be really helpfull in this scenario as the crucial updates are of around 258MB. The first thing you need to do before starting the update is, go to System > Administrator > Synaptic Package Manager (click on it) and it will ask you the password.. here you need to enter your login password and hit enter. You’ll see Synaptic Package Manager window Manager. Once you get that, click on Settings > Repositories and make sure you do exactly same settings i’ve shown below. Just follow the settings shown for Downloadble from the Internet’s check boxes. Do not change anything about the servers, etc. (The screenshots looks different as i’ve done the customization for my current ubuntu laptop)

Now, click on the Update Tab and keep the settings as i’ve shown in the picture below:

After the settings are done, click on Close. Close Synaptic now and the go to System > Administrator > Update Manager. The Update Manager will update and refresh the list and will display, the list of all available important updates. Just click on Install and sit back as this will take some time as the update is of around 258MB. The pic below is from one of my latest updates (its not the crucial 1st time update screenshot).

Once the update is done, you’ll need to reboot the system. Just reboot the system and login back.

Now comes the ATI / Nvidia Driver Installations, so again start the Synaptic Manager and click on Search button. This will pop up a new small window and in that type in “envy / envyng” and hit enter. This will search the repositories and will show some envyng list. Just Right click on Envyng Core and select Mark for Installation, and then click Apply in the main synaptic window. This will download Envyng package, so wait for it to dload and install the package. Once that is done, again click on Search and type in Compiz and hit enter. Search and look for Compiz Settings Manager and Compiz Fusion Icon right click on both of them and click on Mark for Installation and again then click Apply (as you did before). This will dload and install Compiz Settings Manager which u can use further for any visual customization and effects management for your desktop.

Once Envyng is installed (still keep your net connection active), press ctrl+alt+F1 and this should take you to the terminal, if for some reason if it doesnt, then press the same key combination again and then it’ll take you to the terminal. In terminal type in:

v1nc3@v1nc3-laptop:~$ envyng -t (after this hit enter), it will ask you for your login password and you type in your login password).

+————————————————-+
|
| Welcome to EnvyNG
| Developed by Alberto Milone (aka tseliot)
|
+————————————————-+

+———————————————————–+
| EnvyNG Menu
|
| 1 – Install the NVIDIA driver
|
| 2 – Uninstall the NVIDIA driver
|
| 3 – Install the ATI driver
|
| 4 – Uninstall the ATI driver
|
| 5 – Restart the Xserver
|
| 6 – Restart your computer
|
| 7 – Exit
|
| NOTE: IF THE SCREEN TURNS BLACK, PLEASE TYPE ALT+F1
+———————————————————–+
Please select one of the activities displayed above and press ENTER:

Here according to the card you have.. select the option accordingly eg: i Selected 3 and hit enter (as i have ati card on my laptop). This will again show you the updated drivers and the same way select the latest available driver it shows and hit enter. This will dload and install the drivers and then will as you to Reboot the system, so kindly follow it.

After rebooting the system, you’ll realise that your gfx drivers have been installed and now all you have to do is, Right click on the desktop and then select change desktop background. This will display Display Settings / Properties like you have in Windows. Click on Visual Effects and then select the option EXTRAS. This may take a few minutes but just be calm and then click on close. Just open open up your hard drive window and try to maximise and minimise it and see if the wobbly windows is enabled (it’ll get enabled by default).

Now you need to do some font settings, so again get back to CHange Deskeop Background and click on Fonts tab and then below Rendering, select Sub-Pixel and then click ok (this is mainly if you have a LCD and not a CRT).

PS: If at all you dont like Ubuntu and you want to get rid of it, just login to your windows a/c. and uninstall it from add/remove program

Important Application Summary:

• For your Office usage, there is Open Office.
• For surfing, Firefox is default browser and is in-built. It gets updated along with the system updates. Also you can download and install Opera by downloading it off their site.
• Quite handy and Photoshop replacement and MS Paint asskicker application is “Gimp” .
• If your laptop or your desktop has a webcam, then in the synaptic search and look for “Cheese”. Cheese is an application from Mac which is for Webcams which has quite good amout of effects and stuffs.
• Online chat messenger is Pidgin (again its in-built). If you want something different more just for MSN, go for aMSN.
• For Music, go to www.getsoundbird.com for Open Source Music Player.
• For Movies, download VLCPlayer and i’d suggest to download the VLC from their site itself than getting it from Ubuntu Repositories.
• Assign shortcurts to your keyboard for applicaations you need. System > Preferncs > Keyboard Shortcuts.
• Screenlets (from Synaptic) if you want some widgets / screenlets like Vista.
• If you want a mac like dock bar to handle your shortcuts and minimized windows, download the Avant Window Navigator (again from their site itself and not the repositories. I may cover more about Avant Window Navigator in the other guides which will cover Customizing Ubuntu). If you want some thing more light and further custimizable than Avant, then you can search and download Cairo-Dock (from synaptic).

Thats all folks.. now you’re good to go with the World of Ubuntu and enjoy pure awesomeness ..!! Hope you liked the guide and was helpful to you . A few comments would be helpfull to keep me going with more tutorials and guides.

Thank You,
- BM.