Ubuntu 11.04 or Natty Narwhal (code name) is the successor to Ubuntu 10.10 (Lucid Lynx), with a lot of major improvements in user interface and interaction (it’s more slick, fast and better looking than its previous versions).
Ubuntu 11.04 has Unity Desktop as the default desktop (although classic desktops are also available in login menu), instead of GNOME as you expected (because Ubuntu has been using gnome from the beginning). Some other features has been added – e.g Ubuntu Software Center has now ratings (in terms of stars) and reviews(in the form of comments) available for each application, Windows options has been shifted to panel (top),which appears on Mouse Hover…and so on. Ubuntu has now become the most popular Linux distribution among the desktop users. it’s open source, free, user friendly, fast and in short ..it’s a lot of Fun!
Ubuntu 11.04 can be installed in many ways – You can install it from USB(Universal Serial Bus) or CD (or you can just boot your system from Live CD/Pendrive without affecting your existing operating system on your computer). In this post, I’ll cover both the methods – step by step with full explanation - installing Ubuntu from USB as well as from CD/DVD. This guide will help you in installing Ubuntu in parallel with other OS like Windows 7, if you want only Ubuntu, then it’s much easier, but not recommended if you play a lot of Games or you use some softwares that is windows dependent.
Installing Ubuntu 11.04 from USB Drive
step #1 : Download the ISO Image from it’s official website. Select the correct architecture and download the iso file.
step #2 : Create a bootable USB using Universal USB Installer (a windows application that will create a bootable/live USB from the ISO file of Linux Distros, it supports a number of Linux Distros including Ubuntu 11.04 ).
First, Download USB Installer and execute it, you will get a windows something like this (On Windows 7) -
