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28 Jan 12
Hello everyone, I'm new to linux and I just had a few questions. I've been doing some of my own research and I was wondering about the pros and cons of dual booting versus a virtual machine and I'm kinda stuck on if I want ubuntu, fedora or mint. I'm running windows seven right now so I was also wondering what linux distro works best with that.
29 Jan 12
There is no cons in dual boot until a clear boot loader is configured to boot both the OSs.
If you have more amount of RAM, and have any purpose to use both the OS at the same time, virtual machines are good.
And Ubuntu makes your life easier. Will let you to use your internet, without any extra work, which can be used to solve any upcoming problem if any.
If you dont have more amount of RAM then Vitual box may not be a good choice, since Running 2 OSs at same time need some more main memory[RAM] . Dual boot option wins here.
And if you dont have any purpose to use both OS at same time, by dedicating some 1-1.5 min[ shutdown current OS , reboot, then get into another OS] in dual boot, will reduce the system load in a notable manner .
In Windows-7 , I have a good experience with Ubuntu as Guest OS.
29 Jan 12
helms,
As crond said you're going to be utilizing alot less resources by natively booting an OS as opposed to virtualizing it. However if you have a respectable amount of RAM for a current machine (3-4GB) and a decent processor you'll be just fine running even 2-3 VBox VMs depending on how you're utilizing them of course.
It really depends on what you plan to do once you have the OS booted, but both are viable options.
I would try building VirtualBox VMs for each of the distros you mentioned ( and a few other ones for good measure, you know you want to give Slackware a chance! ;) ) and see what you like the most. After that you can move on to a full blown dual boot of that distro and Win7.
-MM
30 Jan 12
I *hate* rebooting.
If what you are going to do in windows is "lightweight" I encourage you to use a Virtual Machine instead of dual booting.
Regards
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