Written by leomilano the 26 Dec 12 at 16:44.

I propose that a solution similar to "Ubuntu for Android" ( http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android ) is provided for the Chrome OS. Wubi would probably be another example.

The idea would be to be able to install, from withing ChromeOS, an "app", that provides the Ubuntu user space. One of the benefits would be hardware support, since the ChromeOS tends to provide all the legwork in its custom Linux kernel.

I propose that a solution similar to "Ubuntu for Android" ( http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android ) is provided for the Chrome OS. Wubi would probably be another example. The idea would be to be able to install, from withing ChromeOS, an "app", that provides the Ubuntu user space. One of the benefits would be hardware support, since the ChromeOS tends to provide all the legwork in its custom Linux kernel.

Written by leomilano the 4 Mar 13 at 23:10.

I came across (and tried) a new (work in progress) solution for this same problem, which is perhaps the way to go.

https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton

The idea is exactly what I had in mind in solution #1: Ubuntu's userspace on top of the ChromeOS. But this is based on an existing hook from ChromeOS (in Developer mode): the possibility to chroot.

If Canonical puts its weight behind this approach, we could probably have a simple, one click install (hopefully, with no need to run in 'developer mode')

I came across (and tried) a new (work in progress) solution for this same problem, which is perhaps the way to go. https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton The idea is exactly what I had in mind in solution #1: Ubuntu's userspace on top of the ChromeOS. But this is based on an existing hook from ChromeOS (in Developer mode): the possibility to chroot. If Canonical puts its weight behind this approach, we could probably have a simple, one click install (hopefully, with no need to run in 'developer mode')

Written by ciplogic the 21 Aug 12 at 13:20.

If the user installs Ubuntu on the NTFS partition, and Wubi starts nicely, the user may have a tool to migrate to a separate partition.

So "Wubi to disk" tool would copy the home folder and it will take the selection of the packages and reinstall it (if is not possible to make a full copy of the partition content) to the target disk.

Also it will make it possible in this way to install on machines without CD-ROM/DVD-ROM (Macbook Air comes to mind).

If the user installs Ubuntu on the NTFS partition, and Wubi starts nicely, the user may have a tool to migrate to a separate partition. So "Wubi to disk" tool would copy the home folder and it will take the selection of the packages and reinstall it (if is not possible to make a full copy of the partition content) to the target disk. Also it will make it possible in this way to install on machines without CD-ROM/DVD-ROM (Macbook Air comes to mind).

Written by michaelkahl the 21 Feb 12 at 00:45.

An Ubuntu specific virtualization platform that allows Ubuntu or any other spin-off to be installed within Windows or OS X as a guest OS. This platform would allows users to fully experience Ubuntu and all of it's features without worry about hardware support.

Please see the URL for more information.
http://snapptech.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/virtualbuntu/

An Ubuntu specific virtualization platform that allows Ubuntu or any other spin-off to be installed within Windows or OS X as a guest OS. This platform would allows users to fully experience Ubuntu and all of it's features without worry about hardware support. Please see the URL for more information. http://snapptech.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/virtualbuntu/

Written by amanisdude the 9 Jan 12 at 22:03.

Include Qemu or another open source virtual machine application in the installer package and prompt for its optional installation and configuration before the Windows reboot.

Upon configuration, automatically create a virtual machine in Qemu (or other VM application) with Ubuntu's imaged partitions (in 'C:\ubuntu\disks') mounted as a virtual disks.

Modifications to Qemu or the other VM software and its official installer will be necessary for full compatibility and more seemless integration, especially if the user already has Qemu or the other VM installed.

Include Qemu or another open source virtual machine application in the installer package and prompt for its optional installation and configuration before the Windows reboot. Upon configuration, automatically create a virtual machine in Qemu (or other VM application) with Ubuntu's imaged partitions (in 'C:\ubuntu\disks') mounted as a virtual disks. Modifications to Qemu or the other VM software and its official installer will be necessary for full compatibility and more seemless integration, especially if the user already has Qemu or the other VM installed.

Written by Lyfang the 14 Jan 12 at 18:59.

Run Ubuntu directly on Windows.

"This project consist in a portable image of Ubuntu that could run in Windows as a native win32 application."

Source

http://sourceforge.net/projects/portableubuntu/

See also

Idea #28106: Portable Ubuntu Remix

Run Ubuntu directly on Windows. "This project consist in a portable image of Ubuntu that could run in Windows as a native win32 application." Source http://sourceforge.net/projects/portableubuntu/ See also Idea #28106: Portable Ubuntu Remix

Written by AdlerHorst the 13 Dec 10 at 17:39.

Create an Updater for Windows
... maybe called apt-get

Create an Updater for Windows ... maybe called apt-get

Written by AdlerHorst the 13 Dec 10 at 17:41.

Create a Software Center for Windows for installing and Update Ubuntu-one and Wubi and maybe more.

Create a Software Center for Windows for installing and Update Ubuntu-one and Wubi and maybe more.

Written by AdlerHorst the 13 Dec 10 at 17:46.

Create a core for installing and updating and work together with http://windows.kde.org/

Create a core for installing and updating and work together with http://windows.kde.org/

Written by cshong the 5 Dec 09 at 13:46.

For the Wubi installer file that can be downloaded from Wubi website, the following features should be implemented.

1. User will be able to browse and select the correct ISO image file for Ubuntu and its derivative distro (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc).

2. Wubi will verify whether the user selected ISO image file is a correct ISO image file for the chosen Ubuntu derivative distro.

For the Wubi bundled with the Desktop CD, the function for searching the ISO file should be disabled to prevent searching for ISO file in internal or external hard drive, and directly use the CD.

For the Wubi installer file that can be downloaded from Wubi website, the following features should be implemented. 1. User will be able to browse and select the correct ISO image file for Ubuntu and its derivative distro (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc). 2. Wubi will verify whether the user selected ISO image file is a correct ISO image file for the chosen Ubuntu derivative distro. For the Wubi bundled with the Desktop CD, the function for searching the ISO file should be disabled to prevent searching for ISO file in internal or external hard drive, and directly use the CD.

Written by coldReactive the 26 Dec 09 at 14:08.

Wubi should be separate from the CD ISO in the first place, THEN allow users to choose the ISO they wish to use.

Wubi should be separate from the CD ISO in the first place, THEN allow users to choose the ISO they wish to use.

Written by elnerdodegeek the 6 Oct 09 at 17:53.

What follows is the step-by-step installation process for any OS with an ISO or CD, with additional details.

1. The user starts up a Wubi installer and clicks "Advanced Mode"; in this mode, instead of specifically using a CD or downloaded Ubuntu ISO, it lets the user pick only an ISO or a CD inserted in the drive, the size and location of the Wubi container, and what the installation should be called (Shown in bootloader and add/remove programs).

2. The user reboots and selects the Wubi option.

3. Now here is the crucial part: instead of booting into a extracted Ubuntu install, the user boots into the virtually mounted ISO image, or the CD currently in the drive (whatever was specified in the Wubi install). The ISO/CD ONLY has access to the predefined Wubi container for the filesystem. The user can then install the system as they would natively to a hard drive, except in this case it is the Wubi container (as is seen when setting up a virtual machine). When the virtual install is done, the user reboots.

4. The user boots into the Wubi container again; this time a brief screen will appear which asks "Did you finish your install? (y to boot into system, n to boot to cd)" In case it is a two-part install or something went wrong the first time. If yes, the user boots into the virtually contained OS.

What follows is the step-by-step installation process for any OS with an ISO or CD, with additional details. 1. The user starts up a Wubi installer and clicks "Advanced Mode"; in this mode, instead of specifically using a CD or downloaded Ubuntu ISO, it lets the user pick only an ISO or a CD inserted in the drive, the size and location of the Wubi container, and what the installation should be called (Shown in bootloader and add/remove programs). 2. The user reboots and selects the Wubi option. 3. Now here is the crucial part: instead of booting into a extracted Ubuntu install, the user boots into the virtually mounted ISO image, or the CD currently in the drive (whatever was specified in the Wubi install). The ISO/CD ONLY has access to the predefined Wubi container for the filesystem. The user can then install the system as they would natively to a hard drive, except in this case it is the Wubi container (as is seen when setting up a virtual machine). When the virtual install is done, the user reboots. 4. The user boots into the Wubi container again; this time a brief screen will appear which asks "Did you finish your install? (y to boot into system, n to boot to cd)" In case it is a two-part install or something went wrong the first time. If yes, the user boots into the virtually contained OS. This process could be used for any OS, and many OSes could get integration packages to allow for shared folders and the like. One could also add features for any OS dev to create their own spin of Wubi with predefined ISOs, icons, and names.

Written by northrup the 2 Mar 10 at 04:12.

In the list that specifies the desktop environment, an "Other..." option could be provided. By clicking on it, a "Select Alternate LiveCD" dialog can open, allowing a user to select a pre-downloaded LiveCD of his/her choice to install from. Wubi would then check the .iso file to ensure that the CD is indeed a LiveCD and supports Wubi's methods of booting from a loopmounted partition.

In the list that specifies the desktop environment, an "Other..." option could be provided. By clicking on it, a "Select Alternate LiveCD" dialog can open, allowing a user to select a pre-downloaded LiveCD of his/her choice to install from. Wubi would then check the .iso file to ensure that the CD is indeed a LiveCD and supports Wubi's methods of booting from a loopmounted partition.

Written by karthik_jce the 25 Apr 09 at 05:18.

Solution:

The wubi installer can have an option or a way of detecting an existing wubi installation in a given location,

i.e say in the wubi installer, it can have an option to choose "recover old wubi installation" or some kind and can create the boot.ini files newly to point to the old D:ubuntu/disks file, so as to recover the dual booting which would have been there before formating C: drive.

In this way, with the same wubi installer, it would be possible to recover the Wubi installation after formating or reinstalling windows, but only when the Wubi and Ubuntu installation files in the other drive i.e like D: are not disturbed.

This would be very great and would give more reliability to Wubi installations.

I am not aware of the complecations in implementing this solution, but I feel this should be simple considering the fact that wubi already does the creation of the boot.ini during a new installation. So only thing to be done here has to be to find the "disks" file and create a new boot.ini file. With this modification, the windows user doesnt have to loose his Ubuntu installed through wubi even if he reinstalls windows, he doesnt even loose his datas stored in ubuntu.

Solution: The wubi installer can have an option or a way of detecting an existing wubi installation in a given location, i.e say in the wubi installer, it can have an option to choose "recover old wubi installation" or some kind and can create the boot.ini files newly to point to the old D:ubuntu/disks file, so as to recover the dual booting which would have been there before formating C: drive. In this way, with the same wubi installer, it would be possible to recover the Wubi installation after formating or reinstalling windows, but only when the Wubi and Ubuntu installation files in the other drive i.e like D: are not disturbed. This would be very great and would give more reliability to Wubi installations. I am not aware of the complecations in implementing this solution, but I feel this should be simple considering the fact that wubi already does the creation of the boot.ini during a new installation. So only thing to be done here has to be to find the "disks" file and create a new boot.ini file. With this modification, the windows user doesnt have to loose his Ubuntu installed through wubi even if he reinstalls windows, he doesnt even loose his datas stored in ubuntu.

Written by Blast_Tyrant the 28 Jun 09 at 15:27.

Although Solution #1 is a good idea in concept, Wubi would have to search all available hard drives in order to find previous Wubi installations. If the Wubi install isn't in the default location it would unnecessarily use extra RAM, search all data on the disk, and take extra time to complete.


Proposed Solution:
Either manual or automatic backup of boot files and settings.

With manual backup Wubi wouldn't have to be changed at all. After your Wubi install:
*For XP and earlier you would just have to copy boot.ini to a safe location and restore it if the need arises.
*For Vista and Win 7 use BCDedit.exe on the command line to backup/restore, or use EasyBCD to have a GUI.

This could be incorporated into Wubi via system calls to automate the process after a Wubi installation. A 'Restore Boot' option could then be added to Wubi to restore the backed up boot data.

Using the backup method would use less system resources and would also be faster than searching.

Although Solution #1 is a good idea in concept, Wubi would have to search all available hard drives in order to find previous Wubi installations. If the Wubi install isn't in the default location it would unnecessarily use extra RAM, search all data on the disk, and take extra time to complete. Proposed Solution: Either manual or automatic backup of boot files and settings. With manual backup Wubi wouldn't have to be changed at all. After your Wubi install: *For XP and earlier you would just have to copy boot.ini to a safe location and restore it if the need arises. *For Vista and Win 7 use BCDedit.exe on the command line to backup/restore, or use EasyBCD to have a GUI. This could be incorporated into Wubi via system calls to automate the process after a Wubi installation. A 'Restore Boot' option could then be added to Wubi to restore the backed up boot data. Using the backup method would use less system resources and would also be faster than searching.

Written by nandayo the 13 Apr 09 at 20:55.

We can imagine a kind of tooltip that appears after the boot, from time to time (with the possibility to say "never remind me" or "remind me again in xx days" for exemple) on Wubi-installed Ubuntu.

This popup could remind the differences between Wubi-installed Ubuntu and "real" Ubuntu, to encourage user to install the real Ubuntu, and at least make him understand this is not a good definitive solution.

We can imagine a kind of tooltip that appears after the boot, from time to time (with the possibility to say "never remind me" or "remind me again in xx days" for exemple) on Wubi-installed Ubuntu. This popup could remind the differences between Wubi-installed Ubuntu and "real" Ubuntu, to encourage user to install the real Ubuntu, and at least make him understand this is not a good definitive solution.

Written by michaeljt the 3 Apr 09 at 06:30.

See above.

See above.