Wubi – Easiest way to install Ubuntu in Windows partition

Wubi is an application which simplifies Ubuntu Linux installation on Windows partition. To Windows users, Wubi eliminates the hassle of having to repartition hard disk which carry the risk of loosing precious data.

Wubi does this by using a loopback device, creating a large file on a Windows partition and installing Ubuntu inside it. The best thing about Wubi is, it does not use virtual machine or any type of emulation. Thanks to Wubi, Ubuntu can be booted natively using Microsoft Windows boot loader.

When you are done experimenting with Ubuntu (who does?), or need to reclaim the hard disk space back, you can choose the uninstall button from the Windows Start Menu and everything will be removed, just as simple as that.

Wubi is one of the few application that made me wish that I have a Windows machine because I’m dying to try it out!

Wubi will be included with the upcoming Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) release, due in late April 2008.

Credits to fenris the 1337 pencacai for his original research on Wubi.

Visit Wubi official website here : http://wubi-installer.org/

New features in Ubuntu Hardy Heron (due in 20 days)

Though the main focus of the upcoming release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) is for long term support and bug fixes of existing features, Hardy Heron still packs quite a few notable features to look forward to :

Wubi and umenu

Installation without creating a separate partition for Ubuntu Linux is made easier with Wubi! Inserting Ubuntu CDROM will display a start up application which enables you to install Ubuntu on your windows partition using a loopback device.

wubi ubuntu installer

umenu ubuntu installer using wubi

After installation, Ubuntu will be added as one of bootable operating system in your Windows boot menu.

Install Ubuntu without the need to repartition, format and hassle.

Fine-grained User Permission Control
Ubuntu Hardy Heron integrates PolicyKit on administrative user interfaces. This allows you to have better control over user access on specific administrative task. For example, you can assign privilege for one user to access network controls but not software installation.

PolicyKit in Hardy Heron

Easy to use host-based firewall
The new Ubuntu release, Hardy Heron also includes ufw (uncomplicated firewall) that is easy to setup and use by end users without bothering network admnistrators.

New default bittorrent downloader
Transmission replaced Gnome Bittorrrent as the default bittorrent downloader in Ubuntu Hardy Heron LTS. Transmission is a lightweight bittorrent client with automatic banning feature and protocol encryption.

transmission.jpg

Additionally, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS also includes GNOME 2.22 and Firefox 3 Beta, which is better integrated with GNOME desktop environment. I’m looking forward for the next Ubuntu release, due on April 24th, 2008, that is three weeks from now!