Once you have

Ubuntu installed

, you'll probably want to get some software to try with it. By default, Ubuntu comes with several applications that you can use on a day to day basis, but there are many more

software packages

available for free. In this episode, we go over some

Ubuntu tips

and must-have apps.

If you followed our last episode then you should have successfully

installed Ubuntu

to your machine. In this episode, we'll show you

how to customize your settings

and

tweak Ubuntu

to your liking so that you can get the most out of your experience.

If you've tried Ubuntu and want to do a more permanent

install on your hard drive

, we'll show you how in this episode. We show you

how to install Ubuntu

onto your PC over this episode and the next and show you

how to partition your hard drive

to get ready for your install.

If you like

using Ubuntu

but want to have the option of using your other operating system, you can always

create a dual boot system

. This will involve

partitioning your hard drive

and you should probably back up your data, but once the process is complete, you'll be able to

boot into Ubuntu

or your other OS whenever you want.

A handy way for Windows users to

install Ubuntu

is by

using Wubi

, which is a

Windows-based Ubuntu installer

. Wubi gives your PC a

boot option

to

boot into Ubuntu

without formatting or creating a partition on your hard drive. It's also easy to uninstall, so you can go back to your old operating system.

You can

run Ubuntu using LiveCD

without taking up system resources but you can't save anything permanently. Unless, that is, you

create a persistent image

, which is most commonly made using a

USB key

. We'll show you how to use the

persistent image feature

with a USB key in this episode.

While trying Ubuntu out

using a LiveCD

or DVD is one of the easiest and most risk-free

installation methods

, there are drawbacks. For one thing you can't install programs and the system will likely be much slower. We'll go through all of the

pros and cons of Ubuntu

in this episode.

If you followed along with us in episode two, you should have an

Ubuntu LiveCD

ready to install on your computer. Using this LiveCD is a great way to

try Ubuntu

to see if it's right for you without actually making any change to your computer. We'll show you

how to use a LiveCD

to try Ubuntu in this episode.

If you want to

try Ubuntu

without actually committing part of your hard drive to it, you can do so by

creating a LiveCD or DVD

. These discs act sort of like

boot discs

and allow you to run Ubuntu on your computer without using system resources. We'll show you

how to create a LiveCD

or DVD in this episode.

In this episode, we'll give you an introduction to Ubuntu, which is a

distribution of Linux

. It's a great

free operating system

that comes with a full office suite with utilities and games, all of which come packed in free of charge. Here, we'll show you your

installation options

for

installing Ubuntu

such as

Live CDs or DVDs

and

dual booting

.

If you've heard a little bit about Linux then you might have been curious to try a

Linux distribution

yourself. In this series we'll give you an

introduction to Ubuntu

, a free

Linux-based operating system

that gives you multiple installation options. We'll walk you through

how to install Ubuntu

using each of those, including using

LiveCD or DVDs

,

running a persistent image

, and

dual booting

.