Lifestyles with Internet and Electronics

Dual Booting your computer, just like mine, gives me more control and security to my personal files. For those interested, I am actually dual booting my pc with Microsoft Windows XP and Ubuntu 7.10 Gusty Gibbon. If you want your PC to dual boot just like mine, this blog post is for you. How is this possible? Let me explain.


Step 1: Check the Requirements

First and foremost, dual booting needs at least 2 hard drive partitions or better, two physical hard drives. If you already have this requirement then you are ready to dual boot your pc. You also need to know the architecture of your processor, whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit. Newer Intel processors like Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, and most AMD processors are 64-bit ready. This should be noted because 64-bit OS will not run on 32-bit processors, although 64-bit processors can work with both 32 and 64-bit OS. Always remember to backup important files before making major changes in your PC.

Step 2: Get a Copy of Ubuntu



Ubuntu is a free Linux distro which you can download directly from it's website www.ubuntu.com. You can even request CD's if you want. Gutsy Gibbon is the latest release of Ubuntu and it's the one I installed. There are actually many, and I mean many, distros available. You can check this at www.distrowatch.com. You might be thinking why I choose Ubuntu. Well, to tell you honestly, I just am just trying and exploring it, and i can say it's as good as advertised.
If you download a cd image, make sure you burn it as a cd image and not as a file. Also, make sure what you download meets the system requirements (usually very minimal, but remember the 32-64-bit-thing).



Step 3: Boot the Ubuntu CD and Install Ubuntu.

Just restart your computer and then set it to boot from the cd drive. You can do this by pressing "DEL" when you see "Press DEL.." when your computer starts. Then, go to the boot sequence and prioritize the CD drive. Save then exit.

By the way, Ubuntu is a LiveCD, it makes you test the OS without even installing it. So after booting the cd, see the image above, just choose "Start or Install Ubuntu." You will be then directed to its desktop. You can explore it, open some programs, and view your files from your windows partition. If you're ready, just open the "Install" icon on the desktop to begin installing Ubuntu to your hard drive. Just follow the instructions and don't be afraid to click continue. Hehehe. Please make sure you install Ubuntu on your free partition (the other one aside from the windows partition). Ubuntu will reformat this partition so better be careful.


Step 3: Enjoy your new Ubuntu


If you have successfully install Ubuntu, you will see the Grub boot loader (above) every time you boot your PC. By default, your PC will now boot Ubuntu if you do not choose any OS within 10 seconds. If you have a fast internet connection, you can update Ubuntu and install additional software that you might need, all for free.


I hope you learned something with this entry. I know it's a little broad but I hope somehow you now have an idea on how to dual boot your PC. If you have any problems, you can always go to forums such as http://ubuntuforums.org/ or visit the official Ubuntu Website. Also try Googling any problems, there are a lot of linux users who want to help you. Enjoy!

You can also read my older post "The Other Look Of My Computer"



Don't forget to drop some comments!

I have been reading on some news on consumer electronics and I come across to an interesting article which I would like you all to read. Here are the details:


" A 3G Linux phone for sub $US100

NXP Semiconductors and Purple Labs have introduced a reference design for 3G Linux phone offering video telephony, music playback, high-speed Internet browsing and video streaming that they say will cost operators less than $US100.

They claim that their Purple Magic phone, which will debut at the global mobile congress in Barcelona later this month, will serve as a reference design for phone manufacturers creating entry-level 3G handsets, including those targeting mobile markets such as Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

"NXP believes in Linux as the basis for the next generation of mobile handset innovation," said Dan Rabinovitsj, senior vice president and general manager, cellular business, NXP Semiconductors. "We've been working closely with Purple Labs to develop Linux-based mobile terminals that meet the cost and performance requirements of the mass market. Our joint achievement is to bring the advantages of an Open OS environment to the mass market based on industry leading silicon and software."

NXP is in the top 10 semiconductor companies. It was founded by Philips more than 50 years ago and today has 37,000 employees in more than 20 countries sales of around Eur 5 billion. Purple Labs is a venture capital backed US company founded in 2001 specializing in Linux based mobile products."

source: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16436/127/


Wow, I'm sure that mobile phone will be better than those already out there, plus the stability of the Operating System used. It just shows the simple fact that Linux isn't just a system for the Linux enthusiasts, after all, it was made primarily for end users like us.

My blog entry entitled "The Other Look of My Computer" has drawn quite an attention to most of my classmates. Many of them are first time to hear about the existence of other operating system other than the traditional Windows. Some actually already know about Linux, but they have not yet encountered a friend or someone the personally know who actually uses the Linux system. If you think you are just like most of my classmates, behold and read this one.


Linux actually existed longer than we have thought. It was developed by then a young computer science student of the University of Helsinki in Finland, named Linus Torvalds, and shared it to the world wide web in the early '90s. Linux is an Open Source software, which means you can copy, modify, and even distribute it at a completely free of charge. Today, Linux has grown from a simple set of codes to a system that supports many critical parts of the World Wide Web. Windows may be what most end users use, but these users don't know that most of the Internet serves and even network firewalls are Linux based because of its sure reliability, unlimited flexibility, rock solid stability and of course, unparalleled cost.


For you who still can't imagine what Linux truly is, I have embedded a video clip which compares the latest Windows Vista and a Linux Distribution, the Ubuntu Linux (the one I installed in my pc).





This clip features the Advanced Graphical User Interface (GUI) of a Linux system. I'm still looking for some applications so that I can also record my Linux session into a video clip so I can post it here in the future.

I hope you enjoyed it.

During the past months, I was trying to explore more about computers, about hardware and software as well. With eagerness about these computer stuff, I found myself reading a book about computer operating systems, specifically on the Linux System. My curiousness rose when I read that most Linux enthusiasts claim that their system are far stable than the traditional Windows. Well, just like most Windows users, I do not intend to switch to another operating system, but I want to give it a little try...

There are a lot of Linux editions, called distributions. One of the more common distribution is UBUNTU, a Debian-based Linux disto (for more information just go to www.ubuntu.com). Trying Ubuntu Linux is so easy than I ever thought it would. It's actually free!!! Just got to their site and download the cd image. It's also a LiveCD, which means you can boot the CD, and try the Ubuntu System without even installing it. Isn't it cool?


I have some few screen shots here, taken from my own Ubuntu System...

This is the Ubuntu desktop. Pretty similar to windows actually.

Some opened windows, including Mozilla Firefox



I also got to update it free. Updates keep my system from known bugs that Ubuntu has discovered. By the way, are you tired of computer viruses? Well, in the Linux world, it's virtually virus free. It's immune to all windows virus, I don't even use an antivirus.


And these are the common programs when I use ubuntu:

1. Pidgin Internet Messenger - the all-in-one messenger


2. OpenOffice.org - the better alternative to MSWord


3. Mozilla Firefox - the safer choice in internet browsing

Windows may be the most popular OS in the market, but popularity does't really always mean to be the best. Linux gives me the option to see other things beyond tradition, things that sometimes really goes beyond our imaginations.