I'm currently running OS X and Windows on my Macbook via Boot Camp.

Is it possible for me to install Ubuntu through Windows (Wubi type install)?


AFAIK, Installing Ubuntu as an application of Windows does not edit the MBR but instead changes the Windows boot loader to include Linux's Image in the NTFS partition.



Has anyone tried this?

Yes wubi works just fine although you'd be lucky if you'd get all your hardware supported through wubi.

I personally would run Virtualbox and just install Linux that way.

www.virtualbox.org

Technically though, does Ubuntu's wubi install (the one it came with) generally see itself in a purely linux environment or is it going to be working just the same as a virtualization? In terms of resources and hardware transparency? If i have it correctly, virtualizations only 'emulate' hardware right?

It sees itself as Linux and not virtualized. wubi installs as an image file in an NTFS partition using the Windows bootloader instead of the Linux bootloader such as GRUB or lilo. Since it installs itself in a Windows partition, naturally disk IO will be impacted, but that is really the only downside to wubi installs. wubi image files are also limited to 30GB.

I would suggest using partition software to resize your hard disks and create a separate partition. I use Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 and it can resize, move, create partitions without breaking your current partitions.

If you have any questions, hit me up on IM.