Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5


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This the fifth alpha release of Ubuntu 8.04 [Hardy Heron].

One exciting feature is that it integrates Wubi! Wubi allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application. It does not require a dedicated partition, nor does it affect the existing bootloader, yet users can experience a dual-boot setup almost identical to a full installation.

More information can be found here.

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Cool, downloading as we speak :)

Going to test this out, very handy that it can be installed within windows, i have Vista X64 and i hope it works ;)

Here you can find the downloads.

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I'm really looking forward to Hardy. Gutsy brought a lot of improvements, but arguably at the cost of some stability. I just hope that the LTS tag really does mean that I shouldn't have to think about upgrading every six months, and I can stick with an installed OS that I can rely on. These extra improvements they're putting in are just icing on the cake!

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I agree, but it's not that inestable, I use Gutsy as my main Workstation, and haven't got a single problem, except the other day when I was toying around with the screens and graphics applet, but managed to "undo" my "work" so I stick to my good ol nvidia-settings panel :)

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So with Wubi you pop in the Ubuntu CD while booted into Windows and...what? It installs on the same partition as Windows does? I didn't think Ubuntu could run on an NTFS partition.

If that's true, if it does work that way...daaaaaaaaamn.

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So with Wubi you pop in the Ubuntu CD while booted into Windows and...what? It installs on the same partition as Windows does? I didn't think Ubuntu could run on an NTFS partition.

If that's true, if it does work that way...daaaaaaaaamn.

Yup, that's how it works. Shift is working on getting this working in our distro as well.

I've been keeping an eye on Wubi for about a year, I think. Really interesting project, good to see it getting integrated.

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Wow.

Okay, so how in the hell does it manage to run on an NTFS filesystem? I thought support was still incomplete due to it being a crappy closed-source piece of bloated Microsoft sh*te proprietary.

Or does it use some kind of emulation within Windows to run like a VM?

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Technically, it isn't working directly on an NTFS partition (as far as what Linux is running on).

All file access just goes through two filesystem calls, as the NTFS filesystem hosts a large file that is a virtual/imaged ext3 filesystem.

So, Linux makes a request to read a file, for example, /etc/X11/xorg.conf. This request is handled by the ext3 file handlers to point to where it is. But this whole filesystem really exists as a file on the underlying NTFS filesystem. Any changes, like downloading a video clip must necessarily change (append to) the NTFS file which is internally addressed as a full ext3 filesystem.

With today's processing power, you really don't notice much of a difference, though I haven't seen any benchmarks. It certainly is convenient for people who are afraid to shrink their NTFS partition (which is still the best option, IMO).

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Wow, cool.

I'm probably going to stick with the repartitioning method, simply because it's proven effective, but I know a few people who would be very interested in trying Ubuntu this way.

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I consider installation through wubi to be an in-between step from a LiveCD to a "real" install. Basically, it is the speed benefit of a hard drive install with ?ber-easy removal. Most experimenters will like the wubi method, so they can easily remove Linux and not have to worry about their partitions.

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I'm excited about the wubi integration. Installing wubi was my first tip in the toe of linux and that was about 8 months ago and since then I have my laptop running only linux(It's my test bed so i'm constantly switching distros at the moment it's been running the 8.04 alpha since the alpha 2 release) and two desktops dual booting one xp mce and 7.10 the other vista premium and 7.10 (the vista machine was running only ubuntu but it's my parent's machine and the refused to give linux a try but then again they also prefer IE so who really cares what they think). I just hope that wubi allows alot of people who would otherwise be afraid of trying linux an opportunity to give it a spin.

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Does anyone know if this lets you have access to the files that are on the ntfs files system that it is installed on? Also can you access the virtual file system from within windows?

I have been using ubuntu for about a year as my main OS and dual boot with windows using two seperate drives. I manually pick the drive to boot to so it doesn't mess up either OS's mbr, basically making life simple if i remove a drive or OS. My machine recently died and I will be building a new pc very soon, is Hardy close enough to final to use as a main OS as I haven't used gutsy I was using fiesty when my comp died, and I don't want to install gutsy and then have to upgrade to hardy in a short time?

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Yes, Ubuntu can see your NTFS files. Windows can, with an add-in, see ext2/3 parititons. But I don't think that applies to a file image of an ext2/3, like wubi does. Windows is not as flexible about mounting filesystems as Linux is, so a file image is not the same as a separate partition.

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Ok, that would be really great, I could save all my important data to the directories on the windows ntfs directory and then access them from both OS's. In effect needing one less drive and no need to manually pick my boot device. Another ? is do attached devices work normally such as bluetooth? and Wifi?

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Does anyone know if this lets you have access to the files that are on the ntfs files system that it is installed on? Also can you access the virtual file system from within windows?

I have been using ubuntu for about a year as my main OS and dual boot with windows using two seperate drives. I manually pick the drive to boot to so it doesn't mess up either OS's mbr, basically making life simple if i remove a drive or OS. My machine recently died and I will be building a new pc very soon, is Hardy close enough to final to use as a main OS as I haven't used gutsy I was using fiesty when my comp died, and I don't want to install gutsy and then have to upgrade to hardy in a short time?

Hardy is ok alot of new features and it's running pretty smooth but I wouldn't use it as my primary os b/c it's still a bit buggy. I've had to reinstall twice and just today downgraded back to gutsy on my laptop due to the os no longer recognizing my mp3 player. I'm going to go thru the upgrade process again and see if i can fix this issue if not i would recommend sticking w/ gutsy if you need stability.

On the plus side since you are building a new rig try out the 64-bit version of gutsy they've worked out alot of the kinks w/ the upgrades and it's nice being able to register and use 4+gigs of ram

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My current rig, the one that died was a 64bit machine. I tried the 64bit fiesty and didn't like it as there wasn't enough support. Hopefully there is more support now, as 64bit is the future.

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My current rig, the one that died was a 64bit machine. I tried the 64bit fiesty and didn't like it as there wasn't enough support. Hopefully there is more support now, as 64bit is the future.

There's alot more support for it. I actually helped my friend install 64 bit gutsy the other day on his new media rig and it was alot smoother than when i installed the first gutsy release on my machine on day one. Only problem is that you still have to do some workarounds to get some things working right like wine. Not to mention it's still easier to configure than 64-bit vista not to mention i hear that windows 7 is being built like vista w/ 32 bit in mind.

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Windows 7 will be 32bit? Will any 32bit machines support Windows 7? They hardly support vista...... Another issue is that pretty soon most machines will have too much memory for 32bit so why would they build an obsolete OS.

Edited by jackassbikeco
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well they are once again redoing the os kernel from the ground up and it's actually suppose to not be bloated that will amaze me if it turns out to be true but they were saying they got the kernel running on a machine w/ a 600mhz processor and 64mb of ram or something ridiculously small like that.

follow the link to an arstechnica story on it windows 7 demo

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Windows 7 will be 32bit? Will any 32bit machines support Windows 7? They hardly support vista...... Another issue is that pretty soon most machines will have too much memory for 32bit so why would they build an obsolete OS.

Same reason Leopard runs on my single-proc, single-core 867MHz Power Mac G4. Alienating people who don't have top-end hardware is a bad, bad move for companies selling software. Have to make it scalable otherwise your target market is too small.

This goes double for MSFT and Windows, since people with 32-bit machines, if unsupported by Windows 7, could just switch to Linux and live the sweet life.

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I thought that when vista was in development that it was supposed to be re-written and run better, or so they said.....I just don't think Microsoft will keep their promises this time around. Lets hope vista turns out to be like Windows ME and dies a quick death and that Windows 7 really does kick butt. I don't think Microsoft has much of a choice, with all of the people fed up with vista, if they produce another not so great OS alot of people will migrate to a better OS such as Ubuntu or Mac OS as these alternatives continue to evolve.

Sorry for straying kinda off the topic on this one.

Edited by jackassbikeco
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