Installing Ubuntu 8.04-RC

Choosing to install any flavor of Linux is a very big step for most users. The reasons an individual might choose Ubuntu over many of the other distributions are far too complex to detail here. If you are curious, keep in mind that #ubuntu on irc.freenode.com is consistently the most populated channel on the network.

The release used, was Ubuntu 8.04 RC. The simple install instructions shouldn't change too drastically when a new version is released.

Hardware:
AMD Sempron 3300+
512MB RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500
Sound Blaster Audigy
160GB PATA drive
320GB SATA drive

If you are making the jump from Windows (as this machine did), you may want to preserve your files and operating system. Ubuntu offers two ways to do this.

When you feed the disc to Windows, a menu appears. The choices are that you can demo Ubuntu (with no installation!), and perform a full install, OR to install Ubuntu "inside" Windows where you can boot in to either Windows or Ubuntu.

The second choice is problematic because you lose hibernation and have slower disk performance. Installation inside Windows will not be discussed, but may still be the best option for some users.

With the disc in the drive, restart the machine. This will allow us to access the first option, with the ability to perform a full installation.

Enter your BIOS setup screen when you are able. Make sure that the first device in your boot priority settings is the CDRom drive. Exit BIOS after saving the changes.

You will see a ubuntu menu appear. We chose the "Install Ubuntu" option. There are many other things you can do from this menu, but nothing you should concern your self with at the moment.

The installation procedure has 7 steps. Language, location, and keyboard layout are the first 3. You shouldn't need any help with these.

Step 4 is titled "Prepare Disk Space".

Before we go any further, it is worth noting that there are two drives in the machine we used. A 320GB drive that was previously used for storage and a 160GB drive with Windows XP Pro installed.

Our goal, is to preserve the XP install and all the files associated with it. So we chose the second option...

Guided - use entire disk (320.1GB ATA)

This means we want to use the drive that was used for storage before and dedicate the entire disk.

Step 5 requires you to fill in some personal information. The dialog is very easy to understand.

6 of 7 allows you to import accounts, with their settings and documents from Windows (and presumably other operating systems). Interestingly, all of the "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" accounts that we had were available. In our situation, we chose not to import any previous accounts/files, but your intentions may be different.

The last step is really just a review. It may be in your interest to click the "Advanced" tab however and participate in the popularity contest (package usage survey), or enter the information for your HTTP proxy. You can also select to have a boot loader installed on a particular device.

We finished the last step at 9:52AM. The entire procedure thus far has taken mere minutes. On the hardware detailed above, installation completed at 10:02AM. 10 minutes total.

You will be prompted to remove the disk, and press enter while the machine restarted.

We had to enter BIOS a second time to change the boot priority for the hard disks as to prevent the Windows XP disk from starting first.

Log in with the user you created during installation.

Congrats! Ubuntu installation is complete. Right out of the box, everything appears to be working great. Firefox starts in a flash, and the machine has already established an internet connection.

The best thing to do now, is click "Applications", Games > and play Gnometris until I make more updates. Have fun!