Can some explain why people dual boot?

nineteenforty4 · 23 Aug 2013 at 03:47

Hi

I have heard "dual-boot" a LOT when linux comes up and I get that it is having two Operating Systems on the PC but for the love of god I can not figure out why people do it.

If you have a windows OS on your computer in order to use/do certain things then why have linux for normal use if it dosent do everything you need it to.
Is it just to say they use linux? Or is it to do things quicker in return for having to boot another OS for every so often, is overall more time efficient?

Thanks for your time.

dfarrall · 23 Aug 2013 at 07:11

In my case it's because Linux does things windows doesn't do. It has specific tools i need that cant, and wont ever be available for windows.

When i don't need to use these tools i find windows faster and easier to use, so i use that as my everyday operating system.

Hades · 23 Aug 2013 at 07:27

I don't currently use Linux but have in the past and am thinking of returning to it. A lot of people prefer the way Linux works and the freedom and choice it offers, but still need to run Windows for gaming.

Where only occasional use of Linux is needed then it might be an idea to run Windows as the main os and run Linux in a vm.

gregorius · 23 Aug 2013 at 08:01

My place of work is exclusively windows infrastructure, so I need to have windows on my machine in order to inter-operate with all the work systems. However, in my technical work I need some tools that are exclusively linux. Hence, dual boot.

Steampunk · 23 Aug 2013 at 09:11

An OS is software. If one bit of software doesn't do what you want, you get another one that does. If one OS doesn't support the programs you want or need, you use a different one. Dual boot gives you what you need from different OSes on the same machine.

mortals · 23 Aug 2013 at 11:42

nineteenforty4 said:
you have a windows OS on your computer in order to use/do certain things

nineteenforty4 said:
have linux for normal use

This

Windows is the 'extra' in the equation and only because Windows is needed for certain software.

Linux is much faster, more customisable etc etc ......

A better question could be why not dual boot if you need to run certain windows software :confused:

Probably down to opinion but the question asked seems to be worded in a way that questions why people use linux when they have windows which is a topic that has been discussed and trolled extensively on this sub-forum over the years.

nineteenforty4 · 23 Aug 2013 at 14:41

Hades said:
snip

gregorius said:
snip

Steampunk said:
snip

dfarrall said:
snip

Okay I get that you need to use linux for work for example or need to use windows for work so both is required.

mortals said:
Probably down to opinion but the question asked seems to be worded in a way that questions why people use linux when they have windows which is a topic that has been discussed and trolled extensively on this sub-forum over the years.

I'm not trolling, I get that linux is faster and more adjustable. Its just that hopping between OS s seems to negate linux being faster to me.

Steampunk · 23 Aug 2013 at 15:06

nineteenforty4 said:
Okay I get that you need to use linux for work for example or need to use windows for work so both is required.

I'm not trolling, I get that linux is faster and more adjustable. Its just that hopping between OS s seems to negate linux being faster to me.

An OS is just software. If it doesn't do what you need, it's useless to you. So you get something else that does what you want (ie running the programs that you want to use). The concept is no different to any other bit of software.

And rebooting and choosing a boot menu option doesn't take long, or there's always virtualisation depending what you want to do.

Really, it makes a lot more sense than buying a separate PC for every different OS a person might want to use.

A.N.Other · 23 Aug 2013 at 16:25

I started life as a Windows person apart from the odd tinker with Linux but all bioinformatics tools bar virtually none are primarily written for unix-based systems. At work, therefore, I have no option but to use Linux for the majority of what I do. I've used it so much that I've come to prefer it for virtually all situations and have now removed the windows dual boot that I started with. If I need to use the occasional windows program (primarily Office, as LibreOffice doesn't come close IMO) then I use a laptop instead and save to my main machine remotely.

nineteenforty4 · 23 Aug 2013 at 22:29

A.N.Other said:
snip

Could you not use wine for that?

How easy is it to share files between OSs when dual booting?
Like if you made a video on windows and wanted to edit it on linux.

httk · 24 Aug 2013 at 01:56

nineteenforty4 said:
Could you not use wine for that?

How easy is it to share files between OSs when dual booting?
Like if you made a video on windows and wanted to edit it on linux.

You'd want a separate drive/partition or NAS ideally.

Yes, providing you put the file somewhere both OS's can see it, then there's no reason why you can't create the video in one and edit in the other.

Why don't you start with emulation/vm and see how you get on?

nineteenforty4 · 24 Aug 2013 at 02:04

I might, but I do require windows so that would need to be my day to day OS

If I got, say a laptop, in addition to a pc I'd put linux on it cause I hate windows

Mr-White · 24 Aug 2013 at 10:10

I used to dual boot when i was learning Linux, now adays I would virtualise instead as it's easier to bin off the install when you screw it up

MW

Deleted member 77746 · 24 Aug 2013 at 10:55

Basically....

There are utilities that are available that you can run only on one of the systems that duel boot is available.

For example. I have Windows 7 / OSX on my Macbook Air because some games don't run on Mac. No I won't/don't use wine either.

I also use a virtual environment (VMware Fusion) on my OSX install for linux testing.

inSilica · 28 Aug 2013 at 09:16

I dual boot only for games.

I prefer to spend the little time I have gaming rather than faffing about with wine.

A.N.Other · 28 Aug 2013 at 12:44

nineteenforty4 said:
Could you not use wine for that?

How easy is it to share files between OSs when dual booting?
Like if you made a video on windows and wanted to edit it on linux.

Yeah, I could use wine, but there are other things that are windows only that don't run well under wine, so I still do need it for some programs anyway.