Ubuntu 12.04 LTS VMware image with Tools

This is the Ubuntu Precise Pangolin with preinstalled VMware Tools. It is similar to the Ubuntu 12.04 image without VMware Tools. Ubuntu 12.04 is the long awaited version with five years of support by ubuntu.com.

VMware Tools offer some really nice features. The most desired one is probably the Shared Folders option that connects the file systems of host and guest. Also useful is the shrinking tool that trims the virtual disk to its minimal possible size.

However, there is the other side of the coin. VMware Tools often break partly when the OS gets updated. They could be also updated, but that is generally much more difficult, as it requires a complete de- and new installation of them. So, both versions, the one with VMware Tools and the one without them have their use cases.

The fine thing about Ubuntu is its large user base and commercial support. But there is a dark side and that is the new Unity desktop experience. No more a hierarchical start menu and instead a dashboard where users have to type in program names. Sounds like good old DOS has returned!

Well, you got the message. No virtual tool release from us without some howling about these stupid new desktop experiences or "work flow metaphors" as their inventors like to call them.

Fortunately there is Linux Mint and Mageia, among others, and so we have also images of those distros. But the first to name here are the Ubuntu siblings Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu. It is somewhat strange, but it looks like Ubuntu bets on a main version that has been gotten outrun by its secondary offerings.

One of these alternative images is the current Lubuntu 12.04 image with VMware Tools. Try it! It compares favorably with the main Ubuntu. Still, it is Ubuntu. We also have the other current top distros. Those with a hierarchical start menu and an easy to use desktop are:

• Lubuntu 12.04 Tools is officially from Ubuntu. It just has the ergonomic LXDE desktop instead of Unity.
• Mint 13 with VMware Tools is the kitchen sink. Every codec, addon and plugin is integrated. Linux Mint and thus its images are derived from Ubuntu. They are not Ubuntu, but they share repositories with the same contents and the core is largely the same. The desktop of this image is Xfce, a mature and swift working tool.
• openSUSE 12.2 comes with the KDE desktop. Suddenly KDE is back with Gnome and Unity exploring the muddy waters of a blind alley.
• Mageia 2 uses also KDE. It is a fork of Mandriva Linux, a well known and easy to use Linux distro. Try this one!
• Debian 6 with Tools is a bit older, but offers the typical Debian stability and security. It has the Gnome 2 desktop.

Linux Mint offers also versions with Mate and Cinnamon. The former is a fork of Gnome 2 and the latter a fork of Gnome 3 by the Mint team. Both are made in the spirit of simplicity and adhere to the good old desktop principles of Gnome 2 or, ahem, Windows 95.

We keep an eye on these developments...

Preinstalled apps: Libre-Office, Thunderbird, Firefox, Simple Scan, Shotwell, Rhythmbox, Brasero, Gwibber, Remmina, misc tools.

Zip md5: 3b82c7ef45a8bacd81e6c3150cc2ea28