How to Install Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty Narwhal' With Wubi

Ubuntu 11.04, or "Natty Narwhal," has been out just a few days, but already it's being billed as possibly the most accessible and user-friendly Linux distribution ever. With its new Unity interface, the open-source operating system mimics what many people are used to in the mobile arena to create a simple, intuitive way to get things done.

The stepped-up accessibility isn't the only thing that Natty Narwhal has going for it. Like most Linux distributions, the new Ubuntu offers myriad other benefits for individual and business users as well, including better security, flexibility, and reliability than what you typically find in Windows.
And of course, there's Ubuntu's unbeatable price--it's free--as well as its winning total cost of ownership.

Ubuntu Linux: A User-Friendly, Desktop Operating System

Last week, Canonical — the open-source development firm — released a new version of its Ubuntu Linux operating system, seemingly aimed at offering casual Windows and Mac users a feature-rich alternative.
Although it is certainly a bit of hyperbole to say that Ubuntu 11.04 will send Apple and Microsoft packing, ecommerce merchants may find that this new desktop operating system — which is free — is a viable alternative that may save money, improve security, and even provide a better environment for some kinds of web development and maintenance.

Ease of Use and Availability

In the past, Linux operating systems have generally been the realm of techies and developers, in part because installing them often required partitioning a hard drive or entering command-line code. But Linux is not actually as foreign as it might at first seem. In fact, many — if not most — online stores run on Linux-based web servers. Put another way, if a business is using Magento, WordPress, or any number of other PHP, Ruby, Java, or similarly based platforms, that business is probably using a Linux server.
As a desktop solution, Linux is far more rare, to be sure, but it is by no means hard to use. In fact, Ubuntu 11.04 seems to have been designed to make it easy for non-technical users.
Ubuntu 11.04, according to several published reports, is also expected to be available on some new computers, perhaps from makers like Dell, Lenovo, and Acer.

New Looks for Desktop Linux

With the release of GNOME 3.0 and Ubuntu 11.04, the face of the Linux and open-source desktop is changing.

The GNOME Foundation, which has overseen the development of the default graphical environments for the Linux- and Unix-based operating systems from Red Hat, Novell, Canonical, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and others, has diverged from the consistent look and feel that marked its namesake desktop environment for years, with its new GNOME Shell interface.

GNOME Shell represents a new desktop approach intended to make applications easier to access, limit workspace distractions and make more use of modern desktop and notebook hardware.