Dammit Redmond. . .

Just 'cause your shit don't work doesn't mean you gotta go around breaking other peoples!

So I installed Linux yesterday morning.

In particular, I installed Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Insect? Ibex? Something like that).

It does, of course, continue to kick ass and take names.

I intend for this new computer to be my gaming rig, so I also partitioned (using Ubuntu's oh-so-friendly graphical partioner) a section of space off for a windows XP install. Nobody does games like Microsoft, and I've been dying to play Bioshock since I first heard about it two years ago.

So, after spending the morning dicking around and getting Linux set up and Compiz running (leading to the holy-sh!t visual mapping of my virtual desktop that you will see below) I installed XP.

And of course, XP--in its infinite wisdom--assumes that because there isn't anything else in the empty PARTITION it's formatting, that it should overwrite the MASTER BOOT RECORD for the whole gorram machine.

Dumbass.

So then I've got a totally functional Linux install that can no longer boot.

After monkeying around with Super Grub Disk for a few minutes (WTF guys? That's one of the most obfuscated and unhelpful interfaces I've ever touched, and I even tried Frontpage once) I was forced to give up and do a full reinstall of Ubuntu.

But in any case, both systems are up now, with Ubuntu politely installing Grub in the MBR, so now I can dual boot Windows XP and Linux (no thanks to XP!) with minimal effort.

I also decided on a name for the new machine, based on a French name derived from the greek word "Unconquered"

Behold Nikita!