Getting Set Up on Windows 7 (temporarily)

While Ubuntu 11.04 64-bit downloads

The Essentials:
Clipboard history. Found http://www.joejoesoft.com/cms/showpage.php?cid=97

Firefox: http://firefox.com

An extension that can actually get you through a 678MB download: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/downthemall

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download
Specifically: http://www.ubuntu.com/start-download?distro=desktop&bits=64&release=latest

Xmarks and LastPass: https://lastpass.com

IRC: NOT mIRC. What a piece of proprietary junk.

Typing special characters on a Windows laptop keyboard:
http://alt-codes.org/laptop/

The plan for Dual Boot:
http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/05/22/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-and-ubuntu-11-04/

Backstory:

Towards the end of the big push on a project, my 2007 MacBook, primarily usef for running Ubuntu in VMWare, made good on its longtime threats to enter early retirement due to overwork. It worked really well for the 60-odd of 72 hours i worked on it nonstop, and then as soon as it had an audience it quit.

Being in New York City, CS sent me down to J&R to buy a new one... they closed in less than half an hour. Spent most of my time in the store trying to get my old one to work, and then walked out with a Lenovo T420.

It is 2011 and when i asked for a computer without Windows pre-installed they said there were not any.

(The old one then revived enough to keep working, but currently it cannot even empty its trash on the Mac OS X side.)