[Opensource] Getting rid of Windows on your R61 Lenovo

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Bravo Brett! Well done mate. You can now easily imagine how fast and slick
it runs on a Netbook (special ubuntu netbook mix). Sure it will not do
everything but hey, it does what it offers and it does this really well.
Others have pointed this out to me before. Come along with your R61 and
share your work at the LUV Saturday workshop :-)

I am delighted to read how you used Virtual Box. In a pinch you can copy or
move a VM from one computer to the next. We have a standard image that we
can now easily share with staff by just copying the file and making some
minor tweaks. Did it for a couple more staff today. It is a great teaching
tool for students and I note that it is even standard on the Dept Apple
MacBook images.

Would love to drop past and see what you are up to at Croydon SC. :-)

Regards Roland

2009/10/12 Brett Groves <groves.brett.g at edumail.vic.gov.au>

> Greetings all,
>
> Luckily I'm already bald or I would have torn out any hair left since I got
> my new R61 Lenovo a few months ago and have had to struggle with the joys of
> Vista. Blue screens, slow, "Windows has detected the cursor has moved, would
> you like to restart now" type messages.....I had had enough. So I set aside
> some time over the hols to look at Ubuntu.
>
> Tried the alpha version of the new 9.10 release and it was lovely and very
> easy to configure but doesnt yet support virtualbox (more on that in
> moment).
>
> I loaded as a final option instead version 9.04. I actually really didn't
> need to set aside much time at all. It was unbelievably easy to configure
> for EduPaSS wireless, the network share drives are ridiculously simple to
> map, in fact the whole process has been quite pain free...a revelation!
>
> So now my laptop runs at least twice as fast, never blue screens hasn't
> crashed yet, and installing programs like Rolands suggestion of Kdenlive was
> trivially easy.
>
> I also installed a program called virtualbox. This is a very nifty piece of
> software (IT teachers take note if you want to build disposable servers with
> your students, much easier than VMware for a pseudo IT teacher like me) that
> allows you to install a 'virtual' copy of Windows. Windows and Ubuntu can be
> seamlessly integrated using an add on called guest additions. So now I have
> XP and Ubuntu running side by side for those programs like Markbook,
> FirstClass, VBnet etc that don't have a Linux version but are needed for the
> day to day life of a teacher.
>
> The one and only grumble is I have had little trouble getting Flash to work
> in Firefox, handy for youtube, teachertube etc. I am confident though this
> can be sorted or if not I know it works out of the box on Ubuntu 9.10 which
> is available as general release in 17 days.
>
> Overall I'm incredibly happy with the project and the change, so if you are
> as frustrated with MS as I have been don't just put up with it, there are
> many better alternatives out there and I expect that Ubuntu is just one
> possibility.
>
> If anyone would like assistance in making the switch just drop me an email,
> would be very happy to help.
>
> Brett Groves - ICT Coordinator - Croydon Secondary College
>
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-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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