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Debian win32-loader Goes Official

Posted by kdawson on from the like-a-live-cd-on-steroids dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After a long process of review and polishing, the win32 loader from goodbye-microsoft.com has finally made its way to official Debian CDs. Latest daily builds of lenny (the development version) are including it, making starting Debian Installer as simple as just a few clicks (OGG). The win32-loader version, now based on GRUB 2, includes new features such as detection and pre-seeding of Windows settings, and is translated to 20 languages."

8 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Huh? by ZOMFF · · Score: 5, Informative

    It appears that the win32-loader allows you to begin the install process of Debian from a Windows operating system.

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  2. Well that's a bummer. by kwabbles · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't have any Windows machines to test it out on.

    Will this work in Wine? :)

    Seriously though - nice work, guys.

    --
    Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
  3. Re:Huh? by asphaltjesus · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Win32 loader is a new feature in the Debian installation CD. It makes it even easier to install Debian.

    The installation of Debian may be a challenge for some who are afraid of changing the disk boot order in bios. Since bios menus vary, it's practically impossible to make good documentation about getting a CD to boot when it doesn't by default. More subtly, it addresses that weird fear that windows really isn't going away when you install Debian. Personally, I think the distro will be more popular now that the installation cd stops dropping you on a command line where you had to figure out what to type to start the installation process.

    FYI: Debian's graphical installer is way, way ahead of the ubuntu installer u-bug-quity in terms of features and functionality. This is one of the many great things going on in Debian right now.

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  4. Just ran the installer by ZOMFF · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ran the win32 loader on a test-VM here at work. Pretty quick and painless, 4-5 prompts, 45 seconds of downloading, a reboot and debian was installing. However it was interesting to note that administrative privileges on the Win32 OS are not required. Not that big of a deal for most users, but could prove troublesome in some environments (Corporate, etc).

    --
    Launch every sig.
  5. Re:What? by Trigun · · Score: 5, Funny

    He must be married.

  6. I still prefer my method by boudie2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mr. Windows partition, meet Mr. fdisk.

  7. Re:Huh? by joto · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And telling a newbie to go into BIOS setup to change settings is likely to scare the crap out of them.

    And the newbie would be right.

    Installing debian on a windows system should also scare the crap out of a newbie. He will loose all his old files (including family photos), even if this "win32-loader" allows him to keep his worthless bookmarks.

    While I have nothing against trying to convince people to try linux, I have something against the people who will try just about anything, including outright lying, in order to make people switch.

  8. Re:Huh? by Falstius · · Score: 5, Informative
    I haven't used goodbye-microsoft, but Wubi (which is supposedly based on it) does the same for Ubuntu. It works by installing Ubuntu to a file on the Windows partition. So not only do you not lose your Windows files, you don't even have to perform a relatively risky partitioning. It also leaves the windows boot loader in place and chain-loads grub o you don't have the "Ahh, how do I remove grub!!!!" questions.

    Its not the best way to run Linux, but it is a very safe way and faster and more permanent than a LiveCD.