Loading Ubuntu typically consists of the following three steps.

1. Download the software.

   We recommend that you choose the Long Term Support (LTS) version; Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support) - the Lucid Lynx - which was released in April 2010; it will be supported until April, 2013.

   Depending on your hardware (computer architecture), you also need to choose the 32-bit or 64-bit version. Typically, for AMD Athlon 64, AMD Opteron, AMD Sempron, AMD Turion 64, AMDD Athlon II, and AMD Phenom II, Intel Celeron (newer), Intel Pentium (newer), Intel Xeon processors in Intel Core i2/i3/i5/i7 and Itanium processors, the 64-bit version should be used.

2. Burn your CD or create a bootable USB stick

   The creation of bootable CD or USB can be done on any operating system (Linux, Mac and WINDOWS); hence, depending on your requirement you should choose the appropriate procedure; there are step-by-step screenshots available for each of these options at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/download.

3. Install

   Optionally, before installing, you can try out Ubuntu. If you want to do an installation, again, instructions are available with screenshots every step of the way at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/download