The arrival of Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" signaled a new era for the whole family of distributions that use Ubuntu as a base. Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Mythbuntu, and other Ubuntu derivatives soon followed with new releases of their own projects.

Sixpack

Rather than confining you to a single Ubuntu option, this month's Linux Magazine DVD offers several Ubuntu alternatives on a single disc. To browse for your favorite *buntu, simply insert this disc into your DVD drive and then reboot your computer.

Booting

If your system does not boot to the DVD, try changing the boot order in the BIOS configuration menu.

When your system starts, you'll see a boot menu (Figure 1). Select Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer and press Enter to confirm. The Ubuntu desktop will appear on your screen.

Virtual Machines

In the top left-hand corner of the Ubuntu desktop, you will see an additional Innotek VirtualBox icon that is not part of the standard desktop. Despite the padlock icon, you can still access the underlying software.

To launch the VirtualBox virtual machine, press the icon. Double-clicking the icon launches the program. The first thing you see is the Control Center, where you can manage individual virtual machines. The lower part of the window contains a list of pre-configured systems, including entries for Kubuntu 8.04 KDE 4, Mythbuntu 8.04, and Xubuntu 8.04. As the version number indicates, all three systems are based on packages for the latest version of Ubuntu.

To try one of the Ubuntu derivatives in a virtual machine, select an entry in the list and click Start. Ctrl+right arrow returns the host system to the foreground; however, the virtual machine keeps running. To return to a virtual machine, just click on the window.