Howto

Introduction

Ubuntu Linux holds the ranks of no.1 Linux Distribution in the world. It is maintained by Canonical Ltd and Ubuntu Community. It is rated as the most easiest and fastest Linux distribution and hence user new to linux OS are recommended to use Ubuntu. Ubuntu is based on Debain based Linux, the default Desktop environment is Gnome in Ubuntu and KDE for Kubuntu. The latest stable release is 9.04. The new version that we are today going to demonstrate is Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 5, which is still in development. This may not be the final version, but the final version will have the same installation method. Do not install this version on your work computer as this version is still under development and may have bugs, which may end up making you loose data.

Minimum System Requirements :

Processor : 1Ghz Frequency

Memory : 512MB

Free Disk Space : 8GB

CD-Writer

The installation process :

Configure your BIOS to boot from CD. Insert your Ubuntu 9.10 in the CD-Rom and let the system boot from the CD. Now Grub will be loaded giving you the first screen to select the interactive language :

Now once you select you language you will have the screen with boot option. You can either select to try Ubuntu without installing it on your system i.e. the live environment. Here we will select the second option to install Ubuntu on our system :

Now you will be presented with the boot screen which will prepare your system for installing Ubuntu. The boot screen has two phases. The first screen looks like this :

And the second boot screen looks like this :

Now you will be presented with the first installation screen warning you to take backup from your computer in case you mess up the system, as this is just a testing version.

asking you to select your system language :

Once you click on forward you will be asked to select your system language :

Once you have selected your system language, you will have to select your time-zone according to your location :

Now you get a screen asking you to select your keyboard layout. Do not change the default keyboard layout unless you are sure about your keyboard layout :

Now the system will start partitioner so that you can select the disk and partition on which  you want to install Ubuntu 9.10. The screen should look like this :

Now you will get a screen to select the disk partition on which you want to install Ubuntu. Here I will select the entire disk and let Ubuntu decide what to do with it. But if you have another Operating System and you don’t know what to do, select Ubuntu guided partition. This option will automatically detect which is the longest unused disk space and automatically partition your disk without letting you loose any data :

Now the paritioner guider will select the partition that you chose to install Ubuntu 9.10 and configure the system according to it :

Now you will be given a screen where you have to setup the user accounts. Here input your username and password and computer :

Now that you are done with all the setup steps, you will be presented with the screen to review the setup and check if you have not made any mistaken in any past steps. There will be an advance option button. It is not recommended to use this option unless you have any other operating system whose boot loader you need to use as default :

Now click on Install and Ubuntu will start the installation. While the installation is in progress you will see this screen :

Once the installation is completed, you will be asked to reboot the computer. Click on Reboot button and the system will reboot :

Now remove the setup performs some system tasks like deleting the temporary files and folders and you will see a shutdown boot screen like this one :

When all the system tasks are over you will be greeted with this screen telling you to remove the CD from the CD-Rom :

Here, after removing the CD, press Enter to reboot. Now boot from hard disk and you will again get the two phase boot screen, the first one looks like this :

The second boot screen loads and it looks like a progress bar :

Now you will get a graphical screen which will setup Ubuntu 9.10 for final use. This would be the final boot screen. It looks like this :

Now You will get Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop on your screen which will look like this :

Now much has changed. The things that have changed from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10 is graphical boot menu, Grub boot loader, default file system. The default file system in this OS is Ext4 and Grub bootloader is Grub2. Along with these, there are some software updates too. We’ll have a look :

You can see, Gimp is installed by default. Also OpenOffice Draw is available by default as shown below :

Also open Office package is installed with Ubuntu 9.10 by default.

This makes a complete Desktop Operating System. Also the traditional Pidgin IM Messenger is replaced by Empathy IM Messenger. See the image below :

Also Ubuntu One is included in this version of Ubuntu :

Well that’s it. You can go ahead and get your hands on Ubuntu 9.10. If you like and would like to help Ubuntu community, you can keep on testing it and report bugs on the ubuntu’s website. After all, that’s how a community developed OS is built…