SUPERGUIDE: The Open Source Challenge. How to replace Windows completely with Ubuntu.
Linux is like ice cream
But not a box of chocolates. Well, unless you bring virtualisation into it. Anyway, if operating systems were ice cream Windows would be vanilla, and it'd come in different serves such as cones, cups, and bath tubs full of the stuff. Linux as you know isn't quite like that -- you sort of have to bring your own containers. Some people even build their own. But it does come in a hundred flavours to suit almost every taste.
The flavour for our foray will be Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Support), a Debian-based distribution and the very version bundled with APC in the August 2006 issue, but you can also download it here. For the purposes of imagery, lets call this flavour chocolate, because chocolate is nice. If you don't like chocolate, it can be strawberry, I don't mind.
Chocolate is a popular, amiable flavour and Ubuntu is no different. It's built a reputation as the easiest and most desktop-focused distribution available, and so is a good choice for this adventure.
Keeping in mind that as Vista is a DVD release, we'll be installing the DVD version as well, weighing in at just over 3GB. As 64-bit processors are the de-facto now, and Vista can be installed in a 64-bit native version (which has substantially more drivers available for it than XP 64-bit ever had), we'll also be going with the 64-bit edition of Ubuntu, running on an Athlon 64 4400+ with 2GB of memory.
As far as installation goes, it's as simple as specifying a username, timezone, and target partition, and doesn't bear a rating. Especially as there's no direct comparison with Windows, which for many comes pre-installed.
