Wubi is a tool that lets you install Ubuntu as if it were a Windows application. In other words, you can create a computer that dual boots Windows and Ubuntu Linux without messing with disk partitions, bootloaders, or anything else. Just download and run Wubi and use it to install Ubuntu. If you want to uninstall Ubuntu from your PC, just uninstall it from the add/remove programs menu.

But Wubi doesn’t always work as well as a traditional Ubuntu installation, and as the launch of Ubuntu 13.04 approaches, the developers of the popular GNU/Linux operating system are planning to drop Wubi… at least for now.

Wubi

Wubi doesn’t currently play well with Windows 8, fails to create user accounts, and is generally pretty buggy.

So starting with the upcoming beta release of Ubuntu 13.04, there won’t be official support for installing Ubuntu as a Windows app.

The bad news is that this means it’ll take a little more elbow grease to get Ubuntu up and running on a Windows PC. The good news is that there’s a better chance that it will run properly if you do install the operating system.

Wubi could return in the future if members of the Ubuntu development community are interested in whipping it into shape.

via Phoronix

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4 replies on “Ubuntu 13.04 to axe the Wubi Windows installer”

  1. There are greater problems with Linux than the wubi installer. I.e. unlike Windows it doesn’t ‘just work’. On any computer. I now own 2 HP laptops. I can dual-boot on my older machine but the HP dv6 with a radeon graphics card just won’t wake up from suspend. Windows works faultlessly on both. The same problems exist with multi-function printer/copier/scanners. All functions work in Windows but not on any distro of Linux. When any one version of Linux ‘just works’ as well as Windows I’ll ditch Windows. Just now I’ve ditched Linux cos I don’t want to be a geek just to print a page of text(but can’t scan) or install a driver that I need(but can’t find).

  2. Hate to see it go. I’ve been dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows 7 for about a year via Wubi. It’s also been a useful tool to get friends and acquaintances to try Ubuntu.

    When your entire business-model is to piggy-back on someone else’s Operating System and Hardware, these things are always an issue.

  3. honestly, wubi was a nightmare for mobile computing. one weakly documented bug would nearly brick a laptop if it wasn’t shut down cleanly–i.e., ran out of batteries. not a terrible idea but it was not ready for primetime. ubuntu already has one of the friendliest installers.

  4. Alternative Solution(s): Virtual Box, VM Player, etc. Not too worried about this, Wubi was always kind of… off anyway.

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