Downloading Ubuntu is pretty straightforward. You go to its official website. Click on the desktop download section, select the appropriate Ubuntu version and hit the download button.
Ubuntu is available as a single image of more than 2.5 GB in size. The direct download works well for people with high-speed internet connection.
However, if you have a slow or inconsistent internet connection, you’ll have a difficult time downloading such a big file. The download may be interrupted several times in the process or may take several hours.
Downloading Ubuntu via Torrent
If you also suffer from limited data or slow internet connection, using a download manager or torrent would be a better option. I am not going to discuss what torrent is in this quick tutorial. Just know that with torrents, you can download a large file in a number of sessions.
The Good thing is that Ubuntu actually provides downloads via torrents. The bad thing is that it is hidden on the website and difficult to guess if you are not familiar with it.
If you want to download Ubuntu via torrent, go to your chosen Ubuntu version’s section and look for alternative downloads.
Click on this “alternative downloads” link and it will open a new web page. Scroll down on this page to see the BitTorrent section. You’ll see the option to download the torrent files for all the available versions. If you are going to use Ubuntu on your personal computer or laptop, you should go with the desktop version.
Read this article to get some guidance on which Ubuntu version you should be using. Considering that you are going to use this distribution, having some ideas about Ubuntu LTS and non-LTS release would be helpful.
How do you use the download torrent file for getting Ubuntu?
I presumed that you know how to use torrent. If not, let me quickly summarize it for you.
You have downloaded a .torrent file of a few KB in size. You need to download and install a Torrent application like uTorrent or Deluge or BitTorrent.
I recommend using uTorrent on Windows. If you are using some Linux distribution, you should already have a torrent client like Transmission. If not, you can install it from your distribution’s software manager.
Once you have installed the torrent application, run it. Now drag and drop the .torrent file you had downloaded from the website of Ubuntu. You may also use the open with option from the menu.
Once the torrent file has been added to the Torrent application, it starts downloading the file. If you turn off the system, the download is paused. Start the Torrent application again and the download resumes from the same point.
When the download is 100% complete, you can use it to install Ubuntu afresh or in dual boot with Windows.
Enjoy Ubuntu :)
