Ah... innovation. Ubuntu is now creating a new installer that can complete the whole installation from a Windows application installer. Although I generally don't like Ubuntu because I find it too oversimplified, I do have to admit they're doing a very good job breaking Windows users into the world of Linux.

You see, many people have so little computer knowledge that even burning an iso file is difficult. Add on to the fact that you'll probably need to reconfigure your BIOS to boot from the CD-ROM, and perhaps feel a little insecure at leaving Windows... that's enough to freak out many users.

There's a reason that Ubuntu is the leading Linux distro out there right now. It's because their whole aim is at providing newbies the easiest Linux experience possible. Many users don't even know that other operating systems exist, and for them Ubuntu is probably the easiest transition possible.

My concerns are these:

Reliability. Obviously a program like this is still in the testing stage, but what about when it's released to the general public? In my opinion, it will take a while to iron out all the bugs and make it reliable enough for an average user to use.

Speed. How fast will this distro be once it's installed? I assumed that speed wouldn't be an issue since it's still installing files, but this made me think twice about that:

It says that it "won't replace existing install options for Ubuntu". Good for them. Except... this adds more complication to the ever-growing Ubuntu installation options for Ubuntu. First of all, there's all the little sub-distros, such as "Kubuntu", "Edubuntu", "Xubuntu". Then there's going to be different installers, too? In fact, offering too many options is what worries me most about Ubuntu. The key for newbies is simplicity. How is it supposed to be simple if there's a hundred different ways of installing it?

I'm not saying that this is a bad project, in fact I think it's a very good idea. But I'm also worried about the future of Ubuntu as the community continues adding "stuff" to the Ubuntu distro(s).