How to try Ubuntu without touching Windows

Many people are intrigued by the idea of ​​using another operating system. The biggest concern is that when trying a new operating system, the Windows installation will break down in some way. There are a few ways to try a new operating system like Ubuntu without touching Windows.

You can try Ubuntu with a Live CD.

One option is to download and burn what is called a Live CD. If you don’t know how to download and burn this CD, you can always ask for a free Ubuntu CD, or sometimes find a free one in computer stores.

Once you have this CD, put it in your computer and turn off your machine. When you turn it back on, you’ll see a screen asking if you want to install and try Ubuntu. Don’t worry about the word “install” because you can’t accidentally install it if you don’t want to. The entire operating system will run from the CD, allowing you to check it out without messing up Windows.

You can also try Ubuntu in a virtual machine.

The other option is to run a virtual machine. This is a bit more complex. Download a free program called VirtualBox. After it’s up and running, start a new “machine”. Set it up with at least 512 megs of RAM, 32 megs of video RAM, and set an arbitrary amount of hard drive space, as this doesn’t matter at this point.

Then add the iso image you downloaded from Ubuntu to the CD-ROM in the virtual machine and boot.

This will allow you to play with Ubuntu while booting into Windows without installing anything.

Please note that none of these methods will show you Ubuntu at full speed. When Ubuntu is actually installed on your machine it will run much faster.