gOS also provides skype, wine in the default installation. Since gOS is based on Ubuntu, ubuntu users will feel right at home when using gOS. All these facts prompted me to go after gOS.

I downloaded gOS after a lot of struggle from their website. They call the operating system as gOS gadgets which really confused . . . → Read More: gOS on VirtualBox]]> gOS or “Good OS” is an operating system based on Ubuntu. What makes gOS special is it’s “mac” like look and feel, out of the box support for google apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa, Youtube etc through a special mozilla application called prism.

gOS also provides skype, wine in the default installation. Since gOS is based on Ubuntu, ubuntu users will feel right at home when using gOS. All these facts prompted me to go after gOS.

I downloaded gOS after a lot of struggle from their website. They call the operating system as gOS gadgets which really confused me. Only after figuring out the size of the iso, I was convinced that I’m downloading the operating system. Also the website seems less informative and not well organized.

Keeping those things aside, let us quickly see how to install gOS as an guest in VirtualBox. Follow these steps to install gOS as a virtual machine in your VirtualBox:

Download the respective “iso” image from the gOS download site.

• Open VirtualBox, click “New” to add “gOS”as the virtual machine.
• Choose “Linux” as the operating system and “Ubuntu” as the version.
• Complete the rest of the virtual machine setup by giving appropriate details.
• Mount the gOS “iso” image in the CD/DVD ROM section of the new virtual machine you just created.
• Start the virtual machine and proceed with the installation.
• Once the installation is complete, boot into your gOS virtual machine.
• Once you boot into the gOS virtual machine, open the terminal and type “sudo apt-get install gcc make automake autoconf“. This will install the necessary build tools which is needed to install the virtualbox guest additions.
• Now click “Devices -> Install Guest Additions” to install the guest additions for this virtual machine.
• Once the guest additions are installed, restart your virtual machine. If the screen resolution of your virtual machine is still small, follow the steps mentioned in this tombuntu post and reboot your virtual machine.
• You can still go and configure things like “enabling smooth fonts” etc to make your experience with gOS pleasant.

Having tried many versions of Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse and PCLinuxOS, I thought of trying Solaris, but it was never easy. I ordered a free Solaris DVD from Sun but it would never install inside VirtualBox. I always viewed Solaris as something very complex to setup and needs extensive knowledge about it. My experience of installing it . . . → Read More: Stunning OpenSolaris running on VirtualBox]]> With VirtualBox in hand, installing operating systems is just like installing firefox or 7zip. It’ so easy. Previously I use to shy away from trying linux, but now, I never miss to install my favourite linux distros in my windows xp machine. Thanks VirtualBox.

Having tried many versions of Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse and PCLinuxOS, I thought of trying Solaris, but it was never easy. I ordered a free Solaris DVD from Sun but it would never install inside VirtualBox. I always viewed Solaris as something very complex to setup and needs extensive knowledge about it. My experience of installing it on VirtualBox reinforced it. I kept trying few times and eventually gave up.

But this is history now. As Sun took over VirtualBox from innotek, I hope the first thing they did was to provide excellent support for Solaris in it. Recently as I was pondering the VirtualBox website, I saw that they are providing good integration with Solaris in their latest version. What do you think I would have done…?

You are right. I straightaway dowloaded the latest version of VirtualBox along with OpenSolaris. (OpenSolaris iso image was only 686MB). What happened next was simply stunning…

Armed with the experience of installing many operating systems on VirtualBox, I was able to proceed straightaway until I reached the point of installing VirtualBox guest additions. Fortunately I came across this great article about installing OpenSolaris in VirtualBox.

And I had minor problems in configuring network until I understood about it. Otherwise OpenSolaris worked like a champ and I was thrilled. Just have a look at the following screenshots…

Starting the OpenSolaris virtual machine installed in VirtualBox

OpenSolaris booting up

Login Screen

OpenSolaris desktop (1280 * 800 resolution)

(One of the main nuances I faced in installing Ubuntu as a guest in VirtuaBox is that I found it very difficult to configure the screen resolution. I spent so much time in something which should have been a easy task. I even wrote a blog entry about increasing the screen resolution in Ubuntu. But in OpenSolaris, I got the maximum resolution just by installing the guest additions.)

And access to the screen resolution setting cannot be this simpler. Just right click anywhere in your desktop and you are there.

And here is the actual screen resolution user interface…

Some Applications pre-installed in OpenSolaris

Disk Usage Analyzer

(Just have a look at the look and feel of OpenSolaris, very clear, very attractive. I simply love it…)

Package Manager

(One good thing about OpenSolaris is that it comes preinstalled with most apps needed for a Java developer)

Browsing

Locking the system

Conclusion:

Overall, I was very impressed with OpenSolaris and looking forward to use it for my java development. The user interface is slick

and easy to use. Have you tried OpenSolaris…? Why not try it today..?

- You are a windows user but want to try linux

- You are interested in trying linux but don’t want to ditch windows either

- You want linux and windows in your machine without disturbing each other

- You are afraid of installing linux as it might make your machine unusable or might destroy your data

If your answer is “yes”, read further…

Even I had these questions on my mind.

I wanted to learn linux, but all I have is one simple laptop with windows xp installed on it.

I . . . → Read More: Easiest way to try linux on windows]]> Ever had these questions in your mind..?

- You are a windows user but want to try linux

- You are interested in trying linux but don’t want to ditch windows either

- You want linux and windows in your machine without disturbing each other

- You are afraid of installing linux as it might make your machine unusable or might destroy your data

If your answer is “yes”, read further…

Even I had these questions on my mind.

I wanted to learn linux, but all I have is one simple laptop with windows xp installed on it.

I need windows to work on all my current projects, but at the same time I don’t want to turn my head from linux.

I had two options:

1. Install linux on my machine in such a way that either windows or linux boots. (Dual boot)

2. Use a virtualization software and install linux as a guest operating system.

I tried both. I spent so many days searching the web to figure out how to setup dual booting in my machine. After many days of hardwork, I managed to install linux on my machine without disturbing windows.

Fine. But that was not the end of the road. I was so used to windows that I couldn’t just come away from that. I need to use Google talk, Picasa etc.. which all work only in windows at that point of time. Also I faced issues in booting when I removed the linux os (ubuntu gusty). I had to run the windows recovery to resume things to normal.

So, I searched for other options and “Virtualization” looked like the best bet for me. I started exploring the options available and the following looked promising.

- VMWare Server (Proprietary. Also VMWare Workstation (which is not free) had lot more options than VMWare Server)

- Microsoft Virtual PC (Need to say anything about the license..? )

- Innotek VirtualBox (Now took over by Sun)

I ruled out the VMWare Server as I felt that it was a stripped down version of VMWare Workstation.

I gave a try to Microsoft Virtual PC. It was ok, but the support for linux as “guest os” was not very good. Also I couldn’t get much support about running ubuntu linux on virtual pc. The support for installing other windows os might be good (who needs that in first place..?)

I was left with the last option. I thought, “Will this satisfy my need atleast?”. It did.

Installing and configuring VirtualBox should be as simple as eating apples. You need to just read the excellent documentation available in their site. Support for linux os is excellent.

I thought of giving it a try and managed to install Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse and PCLinuxOS on it without any issues. The seamless mouse integeration between host (windows) and guest (linux) is simply astonishing. Currently I’m running Ubuntu 8.10 on top of VirtualBox.

VirtualBox makes installation of operating system look like a very simple affair. If you can install firefox on your machine, you can definitely install ubuntu or fedora in your machine using VirtualBox. If you don’t need any guest os, you can simple delete it.

Installing linux has never been so easy.

Still scratching your head? Go ahead and download VirtualBox and install your favourite linux distro on it.

Further reading:

MS Virtual PC vs VirtualBox

My older posts about VirtualBox

But when I tried to do the same for OpenSuse, I got into problem. I couldn’t run the VBoxLinuxAdditions.run from the terminal. I received an error messaage saying that “Please install GNU make, Please install GNU compiler”.

Then when I searched the web, I found this link quite useful.

As such, I executed this command in the OpenSuse terminal: sudo zypper install . . . → Read More: Installing VirtualBox guest additions in OpenSuse]]> I managed to install the VirtualBox guest additions for ubuntu without any problem. And as a result, I get some excellent features like “seamless mouse integration”, shared folder access etc, between my host (windows xp) and guest (ubuntu).

But when I tried to do the same for OpenSuse, I got into problem. I couldn’t run the VBoxLinuxAdditions.run from the terminal. I received an error messaage saying that “Please install GNU make, Please install GNU compiler”.

Then when I searched the web, I found this link quite useful.

As such, I executed this command in the OpenSuse terminal:

sudo zypper install gcc make automake autoconf kernel-source


It asked for my “root” password, and when i entered, it downloaded the necessary packages. (Though, i received an information that autoconf cannot be installed)

It took nearly 1 hour to download and install the necessary packages on my machine.

Then I ran the command:

sudo sh VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

after navigating to the appropriate “media” directory.

Then I was notified to restart the OS. And after that, I was able to use all the features I use with “ubuntu” as guest.

I also noticed that my OpenSuse resolution automatically increased to 1024×768 after installing the VirtualBox guest additions. (It was previously 800×600 only)

I have a Dell Vostro 1400 laptop with Windows xp professional. Ubuntu runs on my machine on top of VirtualBox.

But I never enjoyed working with ubuntu, since all i was able to view the ubuntu desktop at the resolution “800×600″ only.

After searching through the web, I finally managed to get the full resolution supported by my notebook. (1280×800).

These are steps i followed:

- installed the virtual machine add-ons provided by VirtualBox - opened the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and added the the resolutions “1280×800″ and “1024×768″ under . . . → Read More: Increasing the screen resolution of Ubuntu-7.10 on VirtualBox]]> Oops…finally i managed to configure my ubuntu screen resolution to the fullest.

I have a Dell Vostro 1400 laptop with Windows xp professional. Ubuntu runs on my machine on top of VirtualBox.

But I never enjoyed working with ubuntu, since all i was able to view the ubuntu desktop at the resolution “800×600″ only.

After searching through the web, I finally managed to get the full resolution supported by my notebook. (1280×800).

These are steps i followed:

- installed the virtual machine add-ons provided by VirtualBox
- opened the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and added the the resolutions “1280×800″ and “1024×768″ under the “Screen” section…

So here is how my xorg.conf file looks now…

———————————————————————————————-
# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type “man xorg.conf” at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section “Files”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Generic Keyboard”
Driver “kbd”
Option “CoreKeyboard”
Option “XkbRules” “xorg”
Option “XkbModel” “pc105″
Option “XkbLayout” “us”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Configured Mouse”
Driver “vboxmouse”
Option “CorePointer”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/mice”
Option “Protocol” “ImPS/2″
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5″
Option “Emulate3Buttons” “true”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”
Driver “synaptics”
Option “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option “Protocol” “auto-dev”
Option “HorizEdgeScroll” “0″
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Driver “wacom”
Identifier “stylus”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/wacom”
Option “Type” “stylus”
Option “ForceDevice” “ISDV4″ # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Driver “wacom”
Identifier “eraser”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/wacom”
Option “Type” “eraser”
Option “ForceDevice” “ISDV4″ # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Driver “wacom”
Identifier “cursor”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/wacom”
Option “Type” “cursor”
Option “ForceDevice” “ISDV4″ # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “Generic Video Card”
Driver “vboxvideo”
BusID “PCI:0:2:0″
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Generic Monitor”
Option “DPMS”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Device “Generic Video Card”
Monitor “Generic Monitor”
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Modes “1280×800″ “1024×768″ “800×600″
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Default Layout”
Screen “Default Screen”
InputDevice “Generic Keyboard”
InputDevice “Configured Mouse”

# Uncomment if you have a wacom tablet
# InputDevice “stylus” “SendCoreEvents”
# InputDevice “cursor” “SendCoreEvents”
# InputDevice “eraser” “SendCoreEvents”
InputDevice “Synaptics Touchpad”
EndSection

——————————————————————————————-
And the only change i made was here:

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Device “Generic Video Card”
Monitor “Generic Monitor”
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Modes “1280×800″ “1024×768″ “800×600″
EndSubSection
EndSection

I just added “1280×800″ “1024×768″ under the SubSection “Display”.

Fortunately this worked for me.

(Note: I actually got this information from a VirtualBox forum thread and I sincerely thank the guy who provided this information. Thank you very much really)

Whatmore, if you choose the “Full screen mode” in VirtualBox, you get a feeling of just running ubuntu…

Ya, now i feel, i can slowly leave behind windows xp behind me…

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