I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Wubi, the Ubuntu windows installer program. From what I've read, it sounds a little more like some kind of VM than a real installation of Ubuntu... The project website says, "Wubi does not require you to modify the partitions of your PC, or to use a different bootloader, and does not install special drivers." and says it like a good thing, but to me that sounds like it can only be terribly limited. Can someone please give a firsthand account of using Wubi and what the experience was like?

Without doing any research of my own, it sounds like it adds an entry to the NT boot loader.

If that's true, it's the same kind of thing that Windows users get when they dual boot between XP and Vista, for instance.

I've got it, and it's great. It couldn't have been easier to install if someone had come to my house and installed it for me. It's not a VM. You can uninstall it from the Add + Remove Programs, but to run it, you reboot and choose it like any dual-boot system. Once you start it, it's Ubuntu you're running. I've read that loading files is slower in it, but it seems fine to me. I can't remember the reason for that.

I haven't done anything really serious on it. I just use it "for fun." It has fit my needs great!

Well yes, from the further reading I've done, it does seem to add an entry to the bootloader. However, it also seems to make the Ubuntu file system a folder on the Windows hard drive. I just don't know how they managed to trick the bootloader into booting from a folder... I'm confused.

Well one way to do it is to use some sort of grub implementation on Windows and then loaded the kernel files found within that folder just like regular grub. I've created a recovery boot option in a similar way and it works great.

Quote: However, it also seems to make the Ubuntu file system a folder on the Windows hard drive.

What? Running Linux on top of an NTFS filesystem? The mere thought gives me shivers.