hi all,
i order 2 cds of ubuntu for me and my friend.
i want to know
1. can i dual boot with vista
2. are my hardware specs compatible (listing in my sig)
3. is Ubuntu as good backup os?
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Deatailed look at my specs.
Realtek 8185 b/g extensible WIRELESS device
Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Ethernet Controller
Agere Systems HDA Modem
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T10N ATA Device (DVD drive)
It is possible. As far as being a backup OS, I guess it could be. But if you're just wanting it a something that could be USED in an emergency or you simply want to just play with Ubuntu I'd suggest simply booting from a Ubuntu bootable CD.

However, if you do want to dual boot try the below steps.

http://apcmag.com/5046/how_to_dual_boot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_firstyes it is possible, and I believe it is very simple to do. (haven't used ubuntu much). linux needs to be installed after windows though, so if you're starting from scratch, don't install linux first.
I would recommend installing linux instead of just using the livecd because you'll get much better responsiveness in your computer that way. You'll also be able to install programs and save files on the hard drive so you don't have to load all of your customizations every time you boot into linux.
You'll learn a whole lot more about linux if you actually install it and run it for a while.
I just installed Ubuntu today...

It's running as the only OS on this PC, but if all goes well, I might end-up dual booting with Win XP Pro on my other PC (I got it free, I'm no where near loaded).

It seems cool. It also seems to respond quicker than XP...maybe better use of system resources?

ANYWAYS, go for it. You'll learn a lot more having a play around than you will from a book.Yeah, it runs quicker because it has a lot less crap than all the Microsoft OS's. Dual booting is easy - Install Microsoft first, run through Ubuntu install second. It does the rest. Installs a thing called GRUB which allows you to choose which OS you want to boot from. And the new Ubuntu (7.10) supports writing to NTFS partitions (the windows ones).

-Stephen