So today I decided to revamp most of everything and finally set up my ideal work environment. Alas, I work in a predominant Windows environment so I have to make an exception. But I have always wanted to work predominantly in an Open Source environment. What really sparked off my enthusiasm was my decision to set up our new web server for Red Hat Linux Enterprise 5 and Apache. That is still a work in progress but I hope it will be successful soon enough.
Anyway, back to my adventure today. I got the Windows 7 DVD off my boss, geniune copy by the way and set off to work hoping to marry the Microsoft and Linux world on one single laptop; dual booting as they say in our profession. Here is my take on the experience.
My biggest surprise was the simplicity in setting up Windows 7. Although I did have a hard time figuring out how to navigate back once you have clicked on one of the many options to configure the system during installation. That was a bit of a pain. But congratulations to Microsoft for making the process as painless as possible. In a matter of 30 minutes I had Windows 7 quietly chugging along. A few tweaks here and there and then it was good to go. The nasty surprise that spoiled the fun was it could not install the correct Network Controller. And I was desperate because about an hour later and 2 restarts after; the ugly “Not a geniune Windows copy” was proudly displayed on the desktop. I needed to fix this issue so I could activate online. Not Microsoft’s fault; the laptop was a Twinhead Durabook S15S, hardly a world renowned brand like Toshiba or Lenovo or Acer. But using a Windows Vista driver soon resolved, activated and working fine.
I have to say, it felt like a cosmetic makeover of Windows Vista but more lightweight and tasty graphics. It did feel very lightweight too.
Now came the other bit; installing Fedora 10. In with the live CD and after a few minutes it loaded up fine. Without bothering to check out Fedora, I proceeded to installing it on the hard drive. Then I hit a snag. Partitioning was going to be a problem. Thanks to Fedora’s flexibility I thought I had it resolved but alas, it took ages waiting for it to partition the 150GB drive into 2. I finally killed the process, rebooted into Windows and then wondered out loud, how would I partition the drive in Windows 7? I soon found a Shrink option when doing a right click on the partition under Disk Management. I hit a snag yet again – it said the entire partition was corrupt but chkdsk should resolve the issue. I rebooted the machine and allowed chkdsk to do its job and then attempted to Shrink/partition the drive again. In a few minutes 70GB of hard drive space was freed up and I went through a flawless set up for Fedora.
Having resolved my driver issues for Windows 7; I am still stuck on getting Fedora to connect to the network and the Internet. Apparently, Fedora does have issues with the Agere Systems ET131x network cards on Durabook. I have given up for the day and I am heading home.
But its a marriage of a kind; no complaints, very little hassle and the two operating systems are working fine – no quarrels yet; perhaps the kind of marriage everyone wishes for in real life! Until I resolve Fedora’s insistence on the right driver; I am a happier man today, witnessing the best of two worlds finally work seamlessly. Windows 7 and Fedora 10 – it does work!
Perhaps, I will write a tutorial on this process.
Thanks Brahyne. I am currently thinking about including a tutorial section on this blog but with the numerous great tutorials out on the internet, it would be duplicating the excellent efforts of others. I will probably post tutorials that I find very helpful so others can learn and consider taking time to write tutorials on subject matters likes the Windows 7/Fedora 10 “marriage” which is still a relatively “new” option. Time is often very difficult to come by but I hope I make time. Keep reading and posting your ideas on the blog – it will help and inspire me.
More posts like this please. As a “self claimed” computer geek, I found such posts very interesting. I have “married” Windows XP and Vista on my PC, but haven’t tried two different OS (Like Linux and Windows)yet. I’ll try getting the Fedora 10 or 11 (it’s an open source, right?) then try in on. Maybe a tutorial on how to do it might be helpful. I’ll trust you for that.