Many people asked themselves how to run Ubuntu Linux and Windows simultaneously without the need of a virtual machine. The solution is provided by andLinux, a full featured Ubuntu Linux distribution that runs natively in Windows operating system in the same time with Windows without being the need to install a virtual machine. It is freely available for Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista operating systems as a single executable file.

andLinux is based on Cooperative Linux (named for short CoLinux) that represents a port of Linux kernel which permits the user to run Linux alongside Windows or other operating system on the same computer in the same time. In this way, there is no longer need of a virtualization software solution. Even more, by “merging” the Windows and Linux kernel, CoLinux technology determines a certain Linux distribution to run faster as compared with a virtual machine software.

After the download the andLinux executable an automatic installer will guide you through the setup process. During the installation phase, the user must select the amount of RAM that can be used by andLinux such us the Windows operating system to have enough free memory, enable or disable sounds, specify the modality in which and Linux should run: manually from command prompt or as NT service, the Windows file system access type and more. After the installation, a reboot must be performed in order to reflect the new changes. The andServer must be started by double clicking the appropriate icon.

The next screenshots shows the coexistence of Linux Ubuntu and Windows applications on the same desktop:

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 8:16 am and is filed under Linux Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.