Review: Why Ubuntu 'Hardy Heron' Wins Laurels

The latest version of Ubuntu Linux desktop from Canonical is released with long-term-support. Code named "Hardy Heron," Ubuntu 8.04 will be supported till 2011. Ubuntu LTS releases come out every two years and offer three years of support for the desktop version, five years for servers. The last Ubuntu LTS, Dapper Drake (6.06.2), came out in May 2006, and has one more year of support left. The previous version, Gutsy Gibbon, or Ubuntu 7.10, was released in October 2007 but wasn't LTS.

Test Center has followed Ubuntu 8.04 through the alpha and beta stages and applauded the steps Ubuntu took in this release towards making Ubuntu more accessible and friendly to Windows users. The biggest and most visible addition is Wubi, a Windows-based installer that writes the entire Ubuntu OS as a file on a Windows machine. Creating a dual-boot machine is fairly common, with Windows on one partition and Linux on the other, but it can be a daunting task to anyone not comfortable with disk partitioning or unwilling to lose existing files. With Wubi, there is no partitioning of the disk drive, so Ubuntu can be installed on to an existing Windows machine without losing any data. If the user or admin decides against Ubuntu, it can easily be uninstalled using the Add/Remove Programs option in Control Panels.

Just as Boot Camp brought the Mac to Windows users, users interested in Linux but uncomfortable about losing legacy Windows apps now have a painless option at their fingertips.

Reviewers downloaded 8.04 and did a clean reinstall (That's the Test Center-preferred method) instead of an upgrade on a HP Compaq desktop with an AMD Athlon 64 processor. Prior to the reinstall, the machine was running Ubuntu 7.10. Similar to past installations, the install process was straightfoward. Ubuntu 8.04 installer auto-detected all components and detected the printers without trouble. Once the updates were installed, Hardy Heron was good to go.

Reviewers also tried Wubi to install on an existing Windows machine. On a HP Compaq desktop running Windows XP, reviewers selected the Windows Install option from the Live CD. Total disk allocation, target disk drive, and user account information were entered into a dialog box. With the relevant information entered, the intallation ran automatically. After reboot, Ubuntu appeared as a second option under Windows Boot Manager.

This is a familiar look for anyone who has sat down in front of a dual-boot machine before. Knowing there is no physical partition for the second OS, it's pretty cool. Everything looks the same in Windows, except for a Ubuntu folder with documentation and information for using Ubuntu. Booting into Ubuntu option brings up the default desktop, with a menu bar on top and a icon for the filesystem.

Solution providers can offer to install Ubuntu Linux on existing customer systems without interfering with any existing processes. Customers interested in trying out Linux in the workplace now have a lower barrier to entry.

Next: Troubles With Wubi.