Best way to run 2 OS'? (Suggestions? Opinions? What do you like?)

canadianvice · Oct 26, 2016

So, I'm a computer science student who has to run linux for what I do. I like it, but it's not well-baked enough to be a daily driver for everything I do on a PC. So I've been debating my options and experimenting a bit.

I need Windows. Simply put, Linux is lacking a lot of the polish on key apps (sync for instance) and of course, games. Gotta unwind.

So with that said, what have you found to be the most convenient way to do this?
So far I like seamless, but I find I have a lot of trouble not mucking up my Windows install with crap strewn all over my desktop. Is there a good setup to sync files between these two?

Or other suggestions? Should I just suck it up and reboot into the full OS?

I'm mostly looking for opinions and perhaps unique takes on how to do this. I get the idea, I just want to know if maybe there's a better config I'm not thinking of. And yes, much as I would like to, I simply do not have the money to drive two systems at the same time (like, separate computers), so it has to be a married solution for the moment. Thanks for any input or suggestions!

ingtar33 · Oct 26, 2016

I would suggest you run something like VMware, and run linux as a virtual machine on your pc. Windows pc, double click vmware icon and a window pops open with a linux desktop. they aren't that hard to set up either

captaincharisma · Oct 26, 2016

the best way to do it is use 2 hard drives and have 1 OS per drive. this way you won't have to worry about conflicts or the windows or linux install overwriting files from the other OS messing each other up

but if you are just using linux for testing or to mess around i would just run it in a virtual machine using vmware or virtualbox

USAFRet · Oct 26, 2016

Dualboot or Virtual Machine.

Dualboot requires actual rebooting and choosing the other OS. 1 or the other.

VM means you can actually run both at the same time. Windows host and Linux guest. Or the other way around.
With 2 screens, you can devote one screen to the guest and one to the host.
Move the mouse over, click...hey, you're in a different OS.

spankmon · Oct 26, 2016

In order to keep Windows in a pristine state, my preferred method is to have two hard drives. Windows installed on drive 1, Linux and its bootloader installed on drive two plus a large data partition (formatted ntfs) for files shared between the two systems. Use your motherboard's one-time boot selector to choose which hard drive gets booted at each bootup. Here is an article I wrote some years ago describing the setup. You might find something there of interest. Note that it is not for uefi installs.

skittle · Oct 26, 2016

So, I'm a computer science student... games...

Used to be in the same boat. Eventually I found my self only keeping windows around for gaming. Bought a PS4 for gaming and with steam on linux I have not used windows for years. Only wish I had made the switch sooner

canadianvice · Oct 28, 2016

skittle :

Sadly very little of my core library is compatible with Linux, WINE or no WINE :\

The Paladin · Oct 28, 2016

some laptops permit to have 2 HDD internally (dell LS70x for example) removed the "image drive" for another and dual booted Linux/windows , simply select one or the other after bios boot, I personally preferred windows a primary with installing Linux after (Linux boot manager handles booting windows flawlessly)
I have tried Linux first and windows second and it always mucks up at some point

michael diemer · Nov 3, 2016

captaincharisma :

+1

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Best way to run 2 OS'? (Suggestions? Opinions? What do you like?)

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