The 'umenu' on Hardy is a great improvement, and wubi is excellent, but I think we can do even better.
A lot of people give up on Ubuntu before they even boot it because they're afraid of hardware problems, or because they don't burn the iso properly.
Why don't we provide a standalone executable for Windows and Mac that is an all-in-one Ubuntu helper/installer? It can integrate a downloader, iso burner, wubi installer, and hardware tester.
Instead of downloading a big, enormous, confusing iso file that they don't know what to do with, people will download a small program with an extension (exe) that they recognize. Give it a simple name like "Ubuntu Installer.exe" It tests their hardware for incompatibility, and warns them of any possible issues. It then automatically downloads the image to a temp folder (option to save it permanently) and requests they insert a CD, at which point it burns and verifies it. It then adds the CD Boot option to the native bootloader, and offers to restart the computer. Instead of a complicated process, the user just hits Next a couple of times and lets the helper do the rest.
Burning the iso and booting to the CD is now one of the most confusing parts of installing/running Ubuntu. Fix it!
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