This is one of the latest things that I have tried out while on Ubuntu and what can I say, I am really impressed, especially with the “Seamless Mode” which looks something like this:

Basically what VirtualBox does (and in way this is the correct definition, I am just saying what I think it does) is that it emulates an environment on your current (host) OS and allows you to install another OS in that emulated environment. All that VirtualBox creates is a big ass file that grows as you load more shit on the OS that you are emulating and then various files for the snapshots if you were to take any.

The “big ass file” that VirtualBox has created on my system is 1.5GB in size where I have Windows XP installed and Winamp! Though it is obvious that the more stuff you install the bigger that file will get, like with any OS where you install more software it will eat more space!

The other “various files” are snapshots of sessions that you can take in case you fuck something you can revert back to a saved point. So lets say for instance you just installed Winamp and then you go and uninstall some audio drivers which will fuck up your audio and you can’t hear anything. Rather than you having to fixing it like you would have to if you were running it as your main OS you can just revert back before you started messing around and voila, all good. On my system the files are around 200Mb-300Mb, but that vary too.

Really you are running an OS within another OS in an emulate environment. It is pretty fucked up and NOT what you could call Windows software on an Linux platform, but the “Seamless Mode” just makes it a whole lot better than Wine - in my opinion anyhow.

True it is a bit confusing configuring the emulated OS to transfer files with the host (main OS) but that is easily fixed once you read the manual I haven’t yet configured the emulated (guest) OS to connect to the internet as you have to bridge the connection between the guest OS and the host OS for which you have to install some packages and do some hardcore configuring of files manually through terminal which I haven’t got around to doing that yet!

Though I can say that I am pleased that I am able to run Winamp and DFX and to put to good use my Logitech Z-550!

Back to sharing files in between the guest OS and the host OS, just so you know you have to select the folders which you want shared in VirtualBox and then those folders will become available in the gust OS (the OS which is being emulated) via “Network Places >> Entire Network >> VirtualBox Shared Folders”.

Useful websites:
Installing VirtualBox On Ubuntu
Installing VirtualBox OSE on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon
Installing Virtualbox and Windows in Ubuntu
Vista on Ubuntu Using VirtualBox
Create and Manage Virtual Machines Using VirtualBox

P.S. To be able to install any guest OS on a host OS through VirtualBox you will need the installation CD or an CD image (.iso, .bin, etc.) for that particular OS!

Only just 20 minutes ago I found out more information regarding the Eee PC and I thought I would share it out as well to get it out there to be better advertised so that many more users will be more aware of it.

The Eee PC is a ultra portable laptop/notebook. It is basically in between a Palm PC and a portable laptop/notebook which is priced at around £170. NOT BAD! Anyway. here are a few pictures taken off some sites that reviewed it and I’ll let you read about it all you want!

While it is very tempting to get one, I will wait until at least the second or third generation to come out before I will be thinking about buying one. I am hoping that those generations will have a larger screen, bigger (FLASH) disk space, faster processor and a bit more RAM. And on top of that they would’ve learned from the mistakes of the previous generations to improve on the newer ones. It could well be a good 2008 after all!

Apparently to keep the cost of the Eee PC down ASUS have not bundled it with Windows XP (though a version with XP has been announced) and that at the moment the versions of the laptop which are being reviewed have a resolution of around 800×480… Now that’s a lot of scrolling! Also another disadvantage for me at the moment is that it comes with 4GB flash disk storage and apparently the OS that comes installed on it takes around 3GB of that space.

So I don’t know if ASUS are making the users buy external storage devices or maybe they will up the storage on later generations. I know for sure that I wouldn’t want to have a laptop and then carry around with me a spare battery, an external hard disk and other various shit to get my laptop to work. It is either portable (and usable) for a couple of hours or it isn’t and also be able to store data which you use often such as music and pictures. (Obviously torrent and such are out of the question)

Wikipedia ASUS Eee PC
Asus Eee PC Initial Hands On and Video Review (Check the videos!)
EeeUser.com > An Unofficial ASUS Eee PC EeePC 701 Community
Asus Eee PC 701 review

This is a very true quote taken from a comment made on Slashdot by morgan_greywolf (835522) on the Microsoft’s XO Laptop Strategy story.

Here’s a fact: everybody needs an OS to do useful work on their computer. No one needs Windows. The fact is, despite what some might say, Linux is perfectly useable for the vast majority of computer users … the people who claim they “need” Windows, other than hard-core gamers (since their major application is not available on Linux), if they really examined what they truly needed (a word processor, a web browser, a spreadsheet, a personal finance app), vs. what they claim they need (”100% Microsoft Office compatibility”), they’ll find that most of what they claim as a need to have Windows is really a want and not a true need. A small — but significant — minority of computer users actually need Windows because the application they need has no equivalent on Linux.

This is a demonstration of the Git version of Compiz Fusion (formerly known as compcomm), which is the remerge of beryl and compiz, and some of its interesting features.

All of those effects you can get on the new version of Ubuntu 7.10!

So I have finally jumped on the Ubuntu bandwagon and what can I say, I am happy!

I have had *nix experience in the past so this isn’t a new thing for me, I have used FreeBSD, SuSE, Fedora and a couple of other nix based operating systems, but I can say that I am very pleased and impressed by the latest release of Ubuntu. It is more stable, much more refined and looks good in small details too and a lot of things work!

As I am a perfectionist and nitpick at everything and I like to tweak and optimize whatever piece of software and hardware I have I have some high standards, but this is what has impressed me in Ubuntu this time compared to the last release I tried which was 6.something:

In conclusion is a very good stable release which I am pleased with. To be honest, as long as you don’t play games and all you do is just browse the net, chat with friends etc then give it a try.

For me now it remains to install Wine (as I never installed it before) as the latest version is said to be pretty good as many bugs have been fixed and see how some of the software I used on Windows works on here. Though you don’t really need to install the software which you had on Windows to burn CDs/DVDs or listen to music as there are better alternatives available on Ubuntu.

Finally I couldn’t have achieved and further tweaked Ubuntu if it wasn’t for Google, you just type in what you want to do and it finds it for you! Below are some sites that have helped me out perfect my installation of Ubuntu, hope they help you too!

Comprehensive Ubuntu Guide
Download and Install Skype Guide
Firefox Backspace to Previous Page Fix

How To Install Flash

Comparison of Media Players
How To Burn A CD/DVD in Ubuntu

How To Extract Multi-Part RAR Archives (those .r00 etc)

Alternative Windows Software For Ubuntu
Configure GMail with Evolution Mail
How To Get MP3 And Other Codec Support
The Perfect Desktop - Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon”

How To Join Two Video Files Together
1. Download the tools:

2. Make sure you are in the folder where both parts are and run:

If I find any more useful sites I will be sure to add the links here as it will be a good reference in the future if I ever need to get back at them

When I got home today I surprised to find on the table a white package which contained 5 packs of CDs of Ubuntu 5.10. One live CD and one Installation. I can’t wait to install it and start using it. But at the moment I have no hard disk space to be installing linux. I think I will just wait untill I get my 300GB hard disk and then do some file managing, moving files around and then sorting out a partition for Ubuntu.

Unbuntu is of course not the only linux operating system that I want to try out, there is also Suse 10.0 which looks and sounds interesting with all of the new features in version 10.0. So that is waiting to be installed.

Anyway, here are some pictures of what I received today from Ubuntu for FREE:

You can get your free copies of Ubuntu from https://shipit.ubuntu.com/. I used it and many other thousands of people out there from around the world. I also didn’t have to pay no tax or anything like that. But if you have broadband with a connection of 512>, then there is no really need to get the CDs. You are better off leaving it for those who aren’t so fortunate with fast Internet access.