Try Ubuntu Studio before installing it

Ubuntu Studio 12.04 LTS is a live image, which means you can boot from it and use all of the default Ubuntu Studio applications without installing it. Just burn a DVD, or make your USB stick bootable and try it out.

The images can be found below:

• UbuntuStudio 12.04 LTS i386 Torrent (for 32 bit processors)

• UbuntuStudio 12.04 LTS amd64 Torrent (for all 64 bit processors, including Intel)

• UbuntuStudio 12.04 LTS i386 ISO (for 32 bit processors)

• UbuntuStudio 12.04 LTS amd64 ISO (for all 64 bit processors, including Intel)

Boot from DVD

• Download the image above. Burn it to DVD using your favorite software Information on burning to CD/DVD can be found here.

• Make sure to set your BIOS to boot from CD/DVD. Information on troubleshooting booting from CD/DVD can be found here

• Boot from your newly burned DVD and follow instructions.

Boot from USB Stick

• Download the image above. Use software like unetbootin to create your bootable usb stick. (included in Debian/Ubuntu repositories).

• Make sure to set your BIOS to boot from USB. (Not all motherboards support booting from usb stick. Also, not all usb stick are bootable) more information

• Boot from your newly made bootable usb stick amd follow instructions.

Fresh Installation

A fresh installation from DVD is the least troublesome method and is the recommended installation method. The DVD image is 1.9GB, and can either be burned to DVD, or used to make a usb stick bootable.

Notes on partitioning and dual booting

If you are intending to dual boot (keeping more than one operating system on the same computer), you will need to know how to partition manually. Otherwise, the default option presented during the installation (will overwrite everything on the hard disk) is the best choice. Information on dual booting can be found here

Upgrading from Ubuntu

Another option available is to "upgrade" from an existing Ubuntu install. This method is more involved and requires installing additional packages along with modifying some configurations.

It is possible to also selective install various facets of Ubuntu Studio as required. These might include:

• lowlatency kernel - installs the lowlatency kernel to improve latency for realtime applications

• audio meta-package - install all the Ubuntu Studio audio packages

• video meta-package - install all the Ubuntu Studio video packages

• graphics meta-package - install all the Ubuntu Studio graphic packages

• desktop meta-package - install the Ubuntu Studio desktop, menu and theme

It is also possible to selective upgrade applications by categories, e.g. audio effects, real-time kernel, etc.

For more information please see the Ubuntu Studio Upgrade from Ubuntu page.