http://news.softpedia.com/news/Introducing-Ubuntu-11-10-Without-Unity-228425.shtml

I like it. Been running this for a while from my flashdrive. Pretty cool. Going to try the mint 12 version next.

Nixnine, when you run your Ubuntu on your flash drive, can you save what you do?
If you install Gimp and My Paint or any other app on there, will they stay there when you go out of it? They don't on mine.

I'm not trying to hijack this thread but you can certainly dual boot Windows and Linux from a USB PEN drive. Furthermore, you can install a mix of several versions of Linux and Windows on a USB Pen drive. A 16G drive would be enough of space for a dual or triple boot.

One good thing to do would be to create a FAT or a NTFS data only partition that you can use to easily read/write/share files, no matter which OS you boot into.

The key is to plan out in advance what you want to do (number of partitions, sizes, file systems and such) before you begin installing. It will make your life easier when upgrading later on.

I'll be happy to answer any questions I can so don't hesitate to ask. I'm sure there are other members who will have good suggestions on how to approach it, as well.

thank you. I do want to be able to dual boot. I think I am going to like Ubuntu the best so would like to be able to build it by adding some apps and not losing them when I close it.

In that case, you don't want to install the "live" version of Linux on the Pen drive, you need to install the full version of Linux on the Pen Drive.

If I were you, I'd partition the the drive into 3 partitions, one for Windows (NTFS), one for shared data (NTFS) and one for Linux. Install Windows in the 1st partition (NTFS) , Format the data partition using NTFS and install Linux into the unallocated partition. Linux will format the unallocated partition to the default file system used by whatever Linux distro you are using, unless you specify otherwise.

Just make sure you tell the Linux installer to use the unallocated partition so it doesn't overwrite the other two NTFS partitions.

Oh that is what I want. It looks pretty confusing to me but I want to be able to get into Ubuntu easier and save stuff.
What would happen if I bought another pen drive which is smaller and install just Ubuntu onto it. That way I wouldn't have to partition it. What size would you recommend?

I can save my work as well as install apps and app updates. It is as if the flashdrive was my hardrive. Now dual booting from the harddrive is how I began with linux. I did that for about six months before I took the plunge and removed windows.

With this distro now, I installed to a flashdrive from a liveusb copy. In other words, I created a liveusb, booted into that, then installed to a SECOND usb drive. And as Gnu said, to prevent unwanted overwriting, you need to be very careful to note where you are installing to, i.e the flashdrive and not the harddrive. In the beginning I overwrote some memory cards before I knew what I was doing. Which is another bit of advice: prior to doing a usb install or liveusb creation, remove other memory cards/usb drives.

As for size, I myself would recommend at least 8gb. I use a 16gb now, but have successfully used an 8. This distro when installed on a 16 left me with a little more than 10 gb free. That's a lot if one continues to save projects to the main hard drive, which can be done, and allows ample space for updates and added programs. My gimp is about 2gb in size. Instead of copy that to the flashdrive, I link to the gimp folder on the harddrive and can use all my brushes, fonts, scripts, etc, without filling the flashdrive.

So, I would start with a live copy, cd/usb, what have you. Then do an install from that copy to a flash drive. This distro was different from others in that I didn't have to change the boot order. It was detected automatically and gave me the option of booting from either of my systems.

Good luck in your endeavor.

would it be easier to use a separate flash drive for each OS? That way you can have plenty of drive to store all the applications and data??? I've never done it but if I ever do, I would want mine on separate flashes.

I personally keep one os per drive. But that's due to my own inability, haha.

Thank you Nix. I will go that way. I have the livecd but if I go to install while I am in it, I don't see where it asks where to install to.
I so so afraid it would go into the C: drive, I aborted it.
I will go out and get an 8GB USB just for that install when I get up the nerve. I just wish I could pay someone to do it. I am a chicken.

I do not blame you for being a bit chicken, I do not understand enough about computers to try to do a lot of stuff, so I just don't do it. I need a personal helper standing over my shoulder to talk me through it. It was like 6 months before I had the nerve to update my G'Mic to where I could get the updates!

Tux, when you say a USB pen drive, do you mean like the one I had, (the stick)? or do you mean a USB external drive?