That was sobering
For the first time in my experience, Linux totally blows away Windows.
The Task:
I had an ISO image that I wanted to inject a file into, and then burn to CD.
In Windows:
I tried to figure out how to inject into an ISO with Nero, WinImage, and ImgBurn. The process, even if it was possible, was hardly intuitive. I couldn't figure out how to do it short of unpacking the ISO, adding the new file into the unpacked directory, and then repackaging up the unpacked files as a new ISO. Even that didn't work though because this ISO happens to contain a directory tree that has folders that are more than 9 levels deep, which violates ISO9660 standards, and therefore none of the softwares would let me create the new ISO. (I have no idea how the original author got around this, but I suspect the answer lies further down this page...)
Finally I gave up on injecting the new file and decided to simply burn the ISO to disk "as is." Nero 7 kept giving me a "Power Calibration Error." I've had this problem before and I tried the various fixes available on the Internet for this issue, like disabling the IMAPI service and setting my burn speed down to 4X/8X, yet I couldn't get a good burn. Trying to burn with InfraRecorder was similarly unsuccessful.
In Linux:
A Google search revealed that ISO Master is the tool of choice for what I want, so I used Synaptic Package Manager to install it. (~45 seconds). Then I ran ISO Master and opened the ISO. I then selected the file to inject and clicked on "Add". Then I did a "Save As" and saved the ISO to a new name (~60 seconds). Then in Nautilus, I right-clicked on the new ISO file and selected "Burn to Disc."
In Conclusion:
As I said before, for the first time, I was completely amazed at how much better the Linux user experience was than with Windows. What was effortless with Ubuntu on my older and slower lab machine, was impossible with my dual-core Windows box. I am definitely not a linux fan-boy by any means and I'm not enough of a n00b to believe that this represents a forward leap for linux as a whole, but the experience certainly gives me something to think about.