Furthermore, Linux is ridiculously customizable. It's free to download and install (although developers welcome donations). You can throw just about any Linux distribution on a USB stick and test drive it without installing it to your computer. It's also far more attractive than it used to be, rivaling if not exceeding the user interfaces of Windows 10 or MacOS.

You may simply love Linux because it's an alternative to Windows 10 at a time when Microsoft is guiding their operating system toward being more of a service they have aggressive control over, and not something that resembles a 'personal' operating system for your personal computer.

Why You Might Love Using Ubuntu 18.10

The Activities overview screen on Ubuntu Linux

I previously outlined 5 reasons why you should switch from Windows to Linux, but those are largely subjective opinions. Give it a read and decide for yourself. I'll quickly summarize them here:

• Ubuntu gets out of your way. It doesn't nag you; it just works
• The average user may never need to touch a command line (Terminal) window
• Installing software is shockingly easy, and there's a ton of it. Faster, more secure and more elegant than Windows
• System updates are fast, happen in the background and you're rarely forced to reboot
• In my experience the Linux community is incredibly helpful. You won't be left out in the cold if you have issues

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Versus Ubuntu 18.10

But why would you prefer the latest version of Ubuntu (18.10) over the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS version? LTS stands for 'long-term support.' LTS releases are generally geared toward business users or users who prefer rock solid stability -- especially with regards to security -- over newer versions of software. Parent company Canonical will support Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with security patches for an astounding 10 years, while it only supports non-LTS releases for 9 months.

Don't worry, you can easily upgrade to a newer version to receive updates. And since a new version of Ubuntu is released every 6 months, you'll have time to do so.

Since I like to game on Linux and use the latest and greatest kernel and software features, I prefer Ubuntu 18.10. If you just want to test it out before taking the plunge, though, you can always just try it before installing it, without making any changes to your PC!

And if you'd like to stick with the LTS version, here's a guide to installing Ubuntu 18.04.

Yep, you can carry around a bootable, modern OS on this.

Before we install Ubuntu, let's get everything prepped. I'm going to assume you're reading this guide from Windows. It's also assumed that you're using a 64-bit version of Windows; highly likely if you're using Windows 7, 8 or 10. (You can do Part 1 on a Mac, but I have less experience with Linux installs on Apple hardware so we'll stick to traditional PCs)

You'll need at least a 4GB USB stick and an internet connection.

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Step 1: Evaluate Your Storage Space

Let's not go into this blind. Put some thought into whether you want to completely wipe out Windows, or dual-boot with both Windows and Ubuntu. The installation you're about to do will give you full control to completely erase your hard drive, or be very specific about partitions and where to put Ubuntu. If you have an extra SSD or hard drive installed and want to dedicate that to Ubuntu, things will be more straightforward. (Don't worry, you'll get to choose Windows or Ubuntu when your system boots up.)

If you're running on a single drive with Windows and are almost out of space, you may want to consider adding that extra drive! Ubuntu doesn't take nearly as much space as Windows, but assuming you enjoy the experience and want to use it regularly, you'll appreciate thinking about this ahead of time.

Windows 10 disk management tool. In my example I've devoted a spare drive to Ubuntu. It's not formatted or partitioned yet.

Because of the variables here, I can't give you specific instructions for each one. But to check out your current drive situation, click the Windows key (Start button) and type 'disk management.' This will show you the number of drives you have, and how they're partitioned.

Step 2: Download Ubuntu 18.10

The download page for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 18.10

Easy step here! Just head over to ubuntu.com/download/desktop and select the download button for 18.10. You'll have the option of donating to the developers here, but after a seconds the download will begin regardless of what you choose. The ISO is about 2GB so be patient if you have a slower internet connection.

Step 3: Create A Live USB Version Of Ubuntu With Etcher

Etcher is a beautifully simple piece of software that works on Windows, Linux and MacOS. We're going to download that and use it to create a bootable 'Live' USB stick for Ubuntu 18.10. You can use this on any PC regardless of the operating system currently installed on it.

Insert your USB stick of choice (make sure there's nothing on it you want to keep as Etcher will format it).

Then, visit Etcher.io and download the Windows version -- but it should automatically detect your OS and present the right installer. Save it to a location of your choice, or just select 'Run' after the download has finished and install it.

Why Is Ubuntu Iso Download So Slow Windows 10

Etcher couldn't be easier, so the screenshots below will explain it all. First browse to and select the Ubuntu 18.10 ISO you just downloaded, then select your USB stick of choice (if multiple drives are displayed, double-check that it's the right one!) and then hit the Flash button!

Step 4: Prepare Your PC To Boot From USB

Things may get a little tricky here, but rest assured the answer is out there if you get stuck. You've created a bootable USB stick, but you have to your PC to boot from it first. To do that, you may need to go into your system's BIOS screen, which is accessible only when you first boot your system. (Some PCs may automatically boot to a USB stick if it's inserted and bootable.)

For the majority of systems, you'll probably want to hit the 'DEL' key right when your PC boots. Sometimes it may be F12, F11, F10 or F2. If in doubt, consult an online manual for your motherboard.

Every BIOS screen is different, but I'm using an MSI motherboard so I'm showing that example above. Ordinarily you'll need to find a category called 'Boot' where you'll see the order your PC looks for devices to boot from. It's probably set to look at a CD/DVD drive first, and the drive where Windows is installed next. Click on the top or first option and change it to USB Hard Disk.

While you're here, I recommend disabling 'Secure Boot.' This could save you headaches down the road.

Made it this far? Awesome! Now hit 'F10' and select 'Save settings and reboot.' (Again the wording may be slightly different on your PC).

Get ready, it's time install Ubuntu!

You have a bootable Live USB, and your PC should boot from it. When you boot up your system again you should see a text menu with the options to try or install Ubuntu. For now, let's take it for a test drive. It's optional, but it will get you familiar with the layout and user interface, see if your WiFi adapter is detected and check if things like resolution and graphics cards are working properly.

Why Download Speed So Slow

Don't worry about messing anything up here. Have a look around, browse the Software Center and get to know the Settings menus. While you're in Settings you can connect to your Wireless network, connect Bluetooth devices and adjust your display options among many other things.

Sidebar: Ubuntu ships with MESA graphics drivers for AMD Radeon cards, and will automatically install a basic, open-source driver for your Nvidia GeForce card. For basic graphics acceleration you shouldn't need to do anything more out of the box. If you want to get started with playing literally thousands of great games on Steam or other Linux gaming platforms, read this detailed guide on installing graphics drivers.

Step 1: Starting The Installation

Ready to roll? If you're just booting up, select 'Install Ubuntu.' If you're taking a test drive, click the top-most icon the dock that says 'Install' (it may be a shortcut on the desktop as well).

Installing Linux is so much easier than it used to be, so most of this will be straightforward. Just in case, I've tried to capture and represent each basic step.

Select keyboard layout (you can add additional layouts at any time)

In the opening screens you'll choose your language and a keyboard layout, which you can change or add to at any time.

Step 2: Get Connected

Then you'll connect to your wired or wireless network. A wired network (ethernet cable) will be automatically detected and initialized, but you'll need to choose your Wireless network name and enter a password. Getting connected now means you can download security and feature updates while Ubuntu is installing.

At its core, Linux supports a large number of wireless adapters and they're normally detected without issue. If yours isn't, you have many options after the installation, including using a Windows driver! It's a bit outside the scope of this guide, though. If you need help, check here first. Then holler at @AskUbuntu on Twitter or explore www.AskUbuntu.com.

Step 3: Updates & Other Software

So far so good? Excellent! Now we're going to add a variable or two to the installation process. First, select 'Normal' at the top for the fully featured experience. Most users coming from Windows aren't going to want a minimal installation.

If you have an internet connection check the box to download updates while installing. And definitely check the box that says 'install 3rd-party software.' This will open up options to activate optional Nvidia or AMD drivers, get you loaded up on media codecs for playing a wider range of music and video formats, and in general supply more hardware support out of the box.

Some PCs will have a Secure Boot option here. If so, Ubuntu will ask you for one-time password that you'll enter here, and then again when your system reboots. Don't worry, the OS will tell you when it's going to happen and instruct you what to press. It'll be during your first post-installation boot. As mentioned earlier, I do recommend disabling Secure Boot altogether in your BIOS.

Sidebar: What is Secure Boot? It's basically a verification system that makes sure code launched by firmware is trustworthy. A lot of systems shipped with Windows on it have pre-loaded keys that indicate trusted hardware vendors and software providers. When you install some third-party drivers on Linux, Secure Boot will need to be turned off. To the best of knowledge these third-party drivers don't pose any risk, but it's a necessary step. If you're interested in learning more, check out this Wiki.

Step 4: Partition Magic

Now the part that makes people nervous: where to install Ubuntu. Depending on your system's configuration, you'll be presented with a couple core options. Do you want to install Ubuntu alongside Windows, or erase a disk entirely for Ubuntu? (Remember that you if you choose to dual-boot Windows on a single disk, you can choose which OS to load during boot.)

Want to erase a disk and have Ubuntu do the partitioning for you? Gmod latest version free download for windows 7.

For erasing a disk, you'll get to choose which disk in the following screen. If you have that spare drive installed, just choose that and let Ubuntu do all the heavy lifting and auto-partitioning.

Now, both the above options are equivalent to pressing the easy button. Ubuntu will automatically partition your drive. If you're opting for either of the above, I'll see at Step 5!

'Something Else' is the exact opposite of easy.

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'Something Else' means you don't want to install Ubuntu alongside Windows, and you don't want to erase that disk either. It means you have full control over your hard drive(s) here. You can delete your Windows install, resize partitions, erase everything on all disks. So proceed with caution. On the plus side all the changes you make won't be executed until you click Install. You can always go back or start over.

The example I'm going to use is a system with two drives. One has Windows on it, and I want to leave it untouched. The other is blank.

Partition Manager during Ubuntu setup. Be careful here.

The above example might make your eyes water, and I felt the same way the first few times. Are you SURE you don't want to just erase your disk and avoid all this? Just kidding! So what do all these letters and numbers mean? Time for a. . .

Sidebar: Here's how Linux identifies devices. 'dev' simply means 'a device that you can read from or write to.' Then we see 'sda, sda1, sda2,' etc. In Unix 'sd' indicates a block device that can carry data. Then it identifies them alphabetically in the order they're discovered. Finally, the number (1, 2, 3) indicates the partitions. So /dev/sda1 simply means the first partition of the first drive.

Partitions? Think of them as slices of a pie. You can use one entire drive without doing anything to it. Or you can divide it into partitions -- logically but not physically separating them. One of my 2TB drives is divided into 1TB partitions. The 2nd partition is just for Steam game installations, so even if I reinstall an operating system, that part of the drive remains intact and loses no data. With Linux, partitions are necessary.

Knowing that, you 'Something Else' adventurers will need to add about 4 partitions to your extra drive. I'm going to take you through it step-by-step.

Identify the drive you want to install Ubuntu to

First, identify the drive you want to install Ubuntu to. I know that it's 'sdb' because it lists 1TB of free space and there are no partitions. So, highlight yours (remember it will be the one that looks like '/dev/sdb'and then click 'New Partition Table.'

Now you will need to create 3 partitions, beginning with a 'Swap Area.'

Swap is a small space on the drive that is used like system memory (RAM). As a rule of thumb, you'll want it to be slightly larger than the amount of RAM you have in your PC. I have 16GB of RAM, so I'm creating a 20GB (or 20000MB) swap partition.

Sidebar: You may be required to create an 'EFI Partition' as well, and if so Ubuntu will tell you. The EFI partition is where the boot loader is installed and tells your PC which operating systems can be booted. Sometimes you can install it to your Windows drive, and you'll notice there's a drop-down menu to choose where that happens. If you're asked to create one, just follow the same procedure as all other partitions. Make it 250MB.

Create a Root partition with the EXT4 filesystem. (Note: Screenshot taken from Ubuntu 18.04)

Then select '/' as the mount point. (Note: Screenshot taken from Ubuntu 18.04)

Next let's create our 'root' partition using the Ext4 filesystem. (Fun fact: the Ext4 filesystem supports volumes up to 1,152,921,504 GB!) The root partition is the top-most directory of the drive and Linux won't work without it.

For its size, you can use the remaining space on your drive which should be automatically inserted. Some will argue that a '/home' partition should also be created (think of /home as the account directory in a Windows installation like 'C:/Users/Jason.' But Ubuntu will automatically create a 'home' folder for your documents, photos, videos and other media and files. It's very easy to back up or transfer to another Ubuntu installation, so I choose to use only the Swap and Root partitions. (As a relative beginner I'm happy to have my mind changed!)

You've told Ubuntu setup how to partition your drive, and when you click 'Install' those instructions will get executed. First you'll get a confirmation of the changes. If you're happy with them, make it so!

Step 5: Your Region & Account Info

The hard part is over, and I hope it went smoothly for you. All that remains is choosing your region and creating a username and strong password. Because I'm lazy, I usually choose to log in automatically.

Create a username and a strong password. Optionally, choose to log in automatically.

Step 6: Grab A (Small) Cup Of Coffee

Now Ubuntu will start installing and downloading any additional packages if you chose to grab updates. But wait, why a small cup of coffee? Because it's fast. Really fast. On my Dell XPS 13 with a USB 3.0 stick and an NVMe drive, it took less than 4 minutes. Even on older hardware it's really snappy.

Step 7: Enjoy Ubuntu

In a few minutes you'll be ready to rock!

You should be prompted to remove your installation media and reboot. If you had to do the secure boot option, you'll be taken to that screen and your password will be requested.

For me, the installation process was just a first small step in a longer and much more exciting journey. Hopefully yours is headache free, productive, and fun! Explore the Snap store to install popular apps like Spotify, Skype, Discord and Telegram in a single click, or check out the wealth of open source software available.

It's easy to install a lot of the software you're used to using on Windows or macOS

Ready to start gaming? Check out my beginner's guide to updating your graphics drivers and playing Windows-only games on Steam for Linux!

RESOURCES

If you get stuck along the way, here are some resources to get you unstuck.

• Ask Ubuntu Website
• Google :D

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