Essence of Virtualization

Are you confused? I was too at first, so let’s see what Virtualization really is by explaining what you can do with it. So, you have your computer, with Windows installed (it can be pretty much any other OS). Windows in this case is called host OS. You need to download a Virtual Machine software that will make the hardware available to other operating systems. I chose VirtualBox from SUN, a free Virtual Machine available for Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris and OpenBSD.

Installing Ubuntu on VirtualBox

Next you have to choose one or more host OS-es that will be installed on top of your host Windows installation. I gave a try on Ubuntu. Made a Virtual Machine in VirtualBox (it’s an easy to follow wizard). Pun the CD in drive, and told VirtualBox to boot from it, then went on to install Ubuntu on the previously created Virtual Machine.

Ubuntu runs just fine in windowed mode

After install you open VirtualBox and boot up the guest OS, Ubuntu in this case, and use it like a normal OS install (minus the fact that you have a combination of keys to switch the mouse focus from one OS to another). You can run it in windowed mode, or full screen if that’s what you want). That’s it, it can’t gen any easier that that, so let’s see what’s the use of virtualization.

Uses of Virtualization

• You can install as many guest OS-es as you like without having to worry about the host OS being damaged
• You can test any software, if you’re a software developer, using just one computer
• You can limit the resources of a Virtual Machine to see how it performs in various scenarios, or just for security reasons
• Virtualization helps also when older software have to run on newer OS-es which are not compatible with them

Have you tried virtualization? Or you’re afraid of it. Anyway, feel free to ask me questions. I’m happy to help if you have issues or got stuck at one point.

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At the oposite corner lies Mac OSX 10.6 (aka Snow Leopard), announced at WWDC at the beginning of this summer and that was it, not too much buzz except the fact that won’t cost Mac users too much (29$ to pe precise).

Price alone and the fanaticism of Mac users will make Snow Leopard a success, I’m sure of that. But price is not the only thing to look up in Snow Leopard, so let’s see what it brings to the table:

• A more responsive finder search
• New looks and features for Expose and Stacks
• Faster backups through Time Machine
• Faster boot, wake up, shut down times
• Quicker wireless network join time
• Faster installation time for Snow Leopard
• Less space occupied on disk
• A new generation of Quick Time software
• More reliable disk eject (so they admit it at last)
• More efficient file sharing in your home network

Too much marketing bullshit in the motto

I think those features make Snow Leopard an upgrade good to have, but not so much a must have, but I’m no Apple fan-boy, so I wouldn’t know. How about you?

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Ubuntu is not for Windows humans

Installing Ubuntu on my desktop

The first thing I’ve seen after I’ve started the installing procedure was a hard reset. And the second and the third. Then I’ve tried something different (I have no idea why I sensed that might work): I’ve booted into Live CD mode and begin the installing procedure from there. This was a little better, as I’ve got to 80%, the the forth reset occurred.

After calming down with a beer I’ve burned on a DVD the 32 bit version and gave it a go. Needless to say I’ve ended up in the same place, with resets at various points. Then I’ve thought to give another chance to the 64 bit version and browsed through the advanced options before install, where I’ve found something about “no ACPI installation” plus other options I’ve had no clue about. At this point I’ve checked the options with no ACPI and install went fine and pretty fast I have to say.

I have no idea what caused the hard resets but after looking on some forums I’ve seen that I wasn’t the only one with this issue. Next I’ve checked that I didn’t overwrite somehow the Windows Loader, as I usually did in the past experiences with installing Linux. All fine here.

First few hours of using Ubuntu

The first thing I noticed was how fast Ubuntu boots, as from the loading screen to desktop it takes about 10 seconds on a Core 2 Duo 3GHz CPU. Then I’ve noticed the silence of my 500W speaker system, that’s because Ubuntu has a problem with my Realtek HD Audio sound card. After reading a few posts and installing a few drivers the silence persisted, at witch moment I’ve switched my attention towards the video driver of my Radeon 4850 which doesn’t seemed to handle a full screen HD movie. Needless to say that my efforts were useless.

I don’t consider myself an IT Guru, but I’m pretty sure I’m an advanced Windows user with at least 14 years on trial and error. Practically I’ve tried every Windows desktop version since 3.11. I’ve also tried a few Linux distributions like Red Hat and Ubuntu so I can draw a conclusion about both of them

The question: Ubuntu or Windows

Well, the answer is more complicated than it should be and relies upon another question, ‘What do you seek?‘. If you want something easy to install and use give Ubuntu a try, but if you have hardware or drivers issue you’d better stick with Windows. Ubuntu is also a good alternative when your budget is limited, as it comes with various software which provides similar functions like paid Windows programs, but similar is not the same with identical, remember that.

In the end I can’t describe the happiness I’ve felt going back to Windows 7, which is faster in every day use than Ubuntu (except boot time), Precaching being one of the most useful things introduced by Vista. The newest iteration of Windows 7 brings back new levels of performance, a new taskbar and easy to use and install devices. It’s hard thinking about Ubuntu as a Windows 7 competitor, even if it’s cheaper (or free if you don’t need support), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good, because Linux really made visible progress in past years, but so did Windows.

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Let’s start with the beginning: I knew some infos about Windows 7 since last year, but that was what Microsoft had released to general public, nothing more. When the first beta build came in January, first on some torrent sites then officially from Microsoft I had a few friends installing and recommend it to me.

Windows 7 Ultimate retail box on Amazon

I was a little bit skeptical at first, but as I love new stuff related to IT it is no surprise that I’ve installed it on my desktop first, to see how it handles on a beefed up configuration.

After a few days of running the beta version of Windows 7 I concluded that it was a pretty solid build and did installed it on my laptop with Intel integrated graphics. It ran there very satisfactory, with all eye candy on. Drivers were fine and general feel on both systems was that Windows 7 runs smoother than Windows Vista using the same programs.

Even better than my expectations was the fact that after Windows 7 RC1 appeared, I did an upgrade that worked like a charm on both systems.

Now, after 6 months my general feel is that both installations perform like in the first day, even after upgrades, new drivers and a lot of software installs. I expect it to get worse on some point in time, as Microsoft hasn’t ditched the whole registry thing, but for now it’s more than ok.

So, let’s break it down in bullets: why should you get Windows 7 in Autumn?

• It’s way faster than Vista on old and actual hardware
• There are no compatibility issues with software and drivers, or at least nothing major
• It increases functionality, especially in the task bar area
• It’s easier for new computer users, while experienced users will get a hold on it quickly
• It’s cheaper than Vista if you buy a new system
• Old OSes will not be supported long time after Winsows 7 hits the shelves, plus we all know support for old software is crappy
• It’s safer than XP and possibly than Vista. I haven’t got any malware and viruses problems in past months, but I don’t browse stupid/porn/untrusted websites

Info about where to buy Windows 7 and version pricing can be found here

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