Before I commit to Ubuntu I want to make sure I don't screw up

[Hayabusa Rider]

I want to make sure it plays well with my Vista Ultimate 64 bit OS- SP1

I have my system configured for dual boot with XP Pro already and I don't want grief. I've read about problems with installers and I don't want trouble. I just want to broad the horizon so to speak.

 

[Nothinman]

So install it in VMware or Virtual Server and try it there first. It won't be exactly the same since it won't be running directly on your hardware but it's the safest approach.

 

[nerp]

I would do some reading about making sure that installing ubnutu on a spare partition won't cause problems with the vista bootloader. You don't want to end up in a situation where you can't boot into Vista and have to rely on extra steps to make the bootloader functional once again.

Just my personal opinion, but dual booting blows chunks. I like to play with different OSs on spare hardware.

** or virtualize it as nothinman suggests.

 

[sourceninja]

I have ran ubuntu 64 and vista 64 on the same notebook, it works fine. If you install vista first, then ubuntu and let ubuntu handle the boot manager, you will get grub for booting. This will be fine unless you are using bitlocker on vista. As long as you do not use bitlocker you have no problems that way. Otherwise you are going to have to use the vista bootloader and have it boot ubuntu, which is a pain in the ass imho.

If you decide to remove ubuntu, you will have to boot up from the vista cd and restore the vista bootloader (in recovery mode) to boot vista again. It's a 5 minute process.