grub2 = grub1 + Zing!!!!!!!!

Grub2 is an excellent re-write of my favorite boot loader. I have booted GNU/Linux from linloader(remember the real mode dos based win98 boot loader which would erase all traces of windows in the ram and replace it with the GNU/Linux kernel and boot to "freeedom"), lilo, an excellent boot loader before it was sidelined by Grub(I did like lilo to start with). With grub editing boot loader configuration is so easy as just editing the menu.lst with my favorite editor(os), emacs. No commands to run to update the configuration info, just plainly edit the menu.lst to meet the requirement. The caveats i experienced was setting backgrounds, limitation in resolution and format of the backgrounds.

The caveats have been resolved in grub2. I loved all the extra freedom I got with it. I loved it.
So what did I do to the default grub.cfg file which was auto-generated during a squeeze install?
1. added the following code to grub.cfg to boot windows. Though grub2 recognized the windows partition it did not put an entry into grub.cfg

menuentry "Windows XP" {
set root=(hd0,1)
chainloader +1
}

2. change the background. find the line with if background_*** and replace it with the path to your favorite image, preferably background_image /usr/share/images/desktop-base/brushedgnu.png Be careful with the resolution of the image. It has to suit capability of your display and the video adapter.

3. Change the resolution of the splash screen. This and the background should have the same resolution.
set gfxmode=1280x800

4. change the resolution of your console. This can be done by
set gfxpayload=1024x768
The max resolution available in console mode can be found out by running "vbeinfo" from the grub prompt(press esc key during the splash screen)

That is it. This will make you happy about grub2 and the beautiful splash screen will have you and your friends drool over it. Thanks again to all the Free software developers and the users who really make my endeavour into free software land ever more interesting and beautiful.