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Types of installation in Ubuntu 11 04 Natty Narwhal

You can use Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) via one of  three types of installtion .

1- Installing from windows using Wubi installer
if you are beginner you can use this step because its very simple just get Wubi installer Wubi is Windows software that installs Ubuntu within a series of virtual hard disk files contained in the Windows filesystem. It then configures a boot-time menu so you can choose between booting into Ubuntu or Windows. If you choose to boot into Ubuntu, a clever trick makes the virtual hard disk files appear to be real disks. As a result, the user will be entirely unaware they�re not using a traditional partition-based installation, as described previously.
Using Wubi to install Ubuntu is just like installing some Windows software, and is equally risk-free. There�s even an uninstall option added to Add/Remove Programs. The only drawback is a slight reduction in performance compared to a traditional installation, and you�ll also find the Ubuntu suspend-to-disk (hibernate) power-saving mode doesn�t work.

2-Dual-booting
If you intend to switch to Ubuntu full-time, installing Ubuntu by repartitioning your computer�s hard disk is best. This involves shrinking the existing Windows partition and creating new partitions alongside for Ubuntu. Following this, Ubuntu is installed and a menu added so you can choose between Ubuntu and Windows at boot-time. Having Ubuntu and Windows side-by-side on a PC is called dual-booting.
This sounds complex, but it�s automated via the Ubuntu installation software. However, there�s a slight risk involved when repartitioning, so it�s very wise to backup essential data first.

3-Virtual computer
By downloading a virtual computer application, such as the free-of- charge VMware Player (www.vmware.cornjproductsjpiayer), you can install Ubuntu so it runs within a program window on the Windows desktop.
A virtual computer is effectively a complete computer recreated in software. It offers an excellent way to trial Ubuntu, although the limitations of the virtual computer software mean you won�t experience Ubuntu to its full advantage (desktop visual effects won�t work, for example). Additionally, you�ll need a powerful PC with over lOB of memory for optimal results

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Ubuntu 11 04 a k a Natty Narwhal

This week  I got time to upgrade my personal server which was running Ubuntu 10.10 to the new version 11.04 a.k.a. Natty Narwhal. The process wasnt really difficult as many years ago when it used to take hours! and a lot of CDs.

This time I just launched the Update Manager and the notification for the new version was already there and asking if I wanted to install it. You just need to run this command:

sudo update-manager -d

New Upgrade :)

Rlease Notes

Preparing upgrade

I pressed upgrade and after asking for the root user it started the whole process. It removed a lot of old packages and replace others with the new version. One think I really like it is that I made some modifications to some config files and the upgrade tool asked me if I wanted to preserve the old ones or replace them with the new ones. This was great because I was afraid I had to re-do that work again.

Summary of things to do

The whole process might have taken around 2 hours mostly because the Ubuntu servers were so busy with all the installations that sometimes it was really slow to download the packages needed. The traffic must have been really heavy.

Installing new version

Some Clean up

At the end everything was fine but since it is a server I couldnt run the new UI Unity it seems I have to configure my graphics card and makes sense since Unity uses Compiz to run so I might need to take some more time to fix it, either way I like the classic UI.

New Scroll UI

Another new things are the new Ubuntu Software Center , Ubuntu One which lets you synchronize everything between computers and everyone gets 2GB for free, it also lets you stream your music. I need to try this one although 2GB is not too much.

Ubuntu Control Center

Ubuntu One

Talking about software it comes with Nautilus 2.32.2, GNOME 2.32.1, Firefox 4.0, Shotwell 0.9.2, Empathy 2.34.0, Banshee 2.0, LibreOffice 3.3.2, Evolution 2.32.2, Gwibber 3.0.0.1, Xorg Server 1.10.1, X.Org 7.6, Totem 2.32.2, Compiz 0.9.4, GDM 2.32.1, GRUB 1.99 RC1, Mesa 7.10, New artwork, Linux kernel 2.6.38.3, Compiz Fusion 0.9.4 and many more. They did replace OpenOffice with LibnreOffice.

LibreOffice

You can read the complete set of new features in its official page. I like Ubuntu and I would like it more once I am able to configure and run Unity.
Enjoy the new version :)

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