Like any other Linux based open source system, you can download the .iso image, store it on a flash drive, and do a testing from any computer without storing or downloading anything in your HDD. However, this method has a problem and that is the process is a bit slower than real installed Linux OS. There is one more option and that is virtualization using some software like VMware or the VirtualBox. The most favorable approach with be to install it by using Wubi, which allows its installation within Windows OS and if you decide not to keep it, you can easily remove this from the Windows based system like any other application.
Once you are ready to install Natty Narwhal using Wubi, there is a straight forward process and some simple steps to achieve it. The first step will be to visit the Ubuntu website www.ubuntu.com and click on download menu. Here you will find three options namely Download and install, try it from a CD or a stick, and run it with Windows. The first option will install the system either in a dual boot mode or in place of your existing Windows OS the choice is yours. The second option try it from a CD or a stick will, as explained earlier, can be used for downloading the application in an external drive and do a test run to see how it looks like. Select the third option named run it with Windows as this option will not make any changes in your current windows system and add this OS as an application which you can remove anytime if you did not like it. After selecting the third option, you will come through a rectangular box with the option start download. Click here to download the application.
If you are using Windows 7, you will be given a prompt named save file otherwise there will be a continue box which needs to be clicked and Wubi.exe will appear on your screen which you need to click to proceed further. After this you will be given many choices which you can choose as per your preference including a prompt for user name and password and the option of selecting the disc space you want to allocate to the new system. Ubuntu gets installed within 17 GB of HDD but you are advised to provide at least 30 GB for the installation and smooth running otherwise you will not have enough space for saving your files and you need the help of software support to allocate more space for the OS.
Once the installation, which takes about 20 minutes, is complete, reboot the system. After the system restarts, you will get a black screen with a boot menu asking for the selection of OS you want to load. Select Ubuntu and you are in front of an operating system with so many features to discover. The best part is that Natty Narwhal automatically determines if your system has the capability of supporting multi-touch enabled Unity interface. If your hardware does not support it, Ubuntu will provide you a classic desktop environment like the GNOME. For any difficulty during installation, you can take help of a
technical support to guide you with the installation process.
