When I got my N310 I was determined that I would make a concerted effort to run Ubuntu on it.

I’ve tried a few times over the past couple of years to use Ubuntu, but I always hit a compatibility issue of some sort that takes longer than it should to fix, and have gone back to the safety of Windows XP.  I think I will probably stay with Windows for my main day-to-day operations simply because it’s got everything I need, but a little Netbook is a different thing altogether – it doesn’t need to do everything I need.

Installing Ubuntu Remix

Because it has been designed with the Netbook in mind, I decided to go for the Ubuntu Remix.  It’s simple enough downloading it from the Ubuntu site.

I then created a bootable USB Drive using UNetBootin which is really easy to use – stick the drive in the USB port, select the Diskimage ISO option and make sure you select your USB stick as the destination (an 8GB stick is perfect for this job).

Then just let UNetBootin do its thing.  When it’s finished your nearly ready to go.

I decided that I wanted to keep the Windows installation on the Samsung, so this would mean creating a new partition.  It’s probably best to get things ready before you try to install a new OS, so I used EaseUs Partition Manager.  I simply split the HDD in two equal parts.

With that all done, I booted up the Samsumg, and made sure that it would boot from a USB before the HDD (click on F2 when it starts up and go to the Boot Order section).

By default the installer wants to use the whole disk, so I basically followed the instructions on JPiere’s blog for creating the custom partitions.

Wham bam, all installed.

Using Ubuntu Remix

First thing about using the remix version, is that the interface is really nice, and it makes really good use of the limited space on the screen.  The taskbar isn’t where you’re used to having it, but that’s not really a problem.  And on the N310 everything works straight away, apart it would seem from the microphone (leading to a one way conversation with my mum on Skype “Mark can you hear me?” “Hello, Mark?  Are you there?”).  I hope that’s the only thing.

If you’re thinking about giving one of these computers to your kids, Ubuntu is really good because it’s got links to lots of child friendly games and even some educational quizzes etc.  There’s probably no reason why the remix won’t work on a desktop too, so if you’ve got an old underpowered desktop, I’m pretty sure it’ll be ideal.

The start-up and shut-down is so fast, far better than Windows7 I’d say.

So, if you’re pondering what to do, I’d say, give it a go.