Dual boot (Dual boot) with virtual machine: Which one should you choose?

If you want to run multiple operating systems on one machine or multiple copies of the same operating system, you will have two choices: dual boot or run on a virtual machine. Both methods are useful but for different purposes.

1. Advantages and disadvantages of dual boot (dual boot)
2. Learn about virtual machines

Many people will wonder how different they are and what method should be used? Let's find out with Quantrimang. Hopefully after reading this article, you will know which method suits your needs better. The article will go on a case-by-case basis and in each case you should dual-boot or use a virtual machine.

Dual boot (Dual boot) with virtual machine: Which one should you choose? Picture 1

Use a powerful computer

Typically, 100 percent of your hardware is designed to run the operating system on your computer. However, when using a virtual machine, you are running the second operating system in the main operating system. That means the hardware will be split between the two operating systems.

For old computers and laptops, dual booting is the only option. When dual-booted, users can switch between operating systems and all hardware serves an operating system. If you own a powerful hardware, virtual machines are a better option.

So the question is, how much capacity does a virtual machine need? This depends on the operating system. If you run a light Linux distribution, you don't need much, but if you virtualize Windows 10 in macOS, you need more modern hardware.

1. How to run macOS on Windows 10 in a virtual machine

Perform CPU and GPU tasks

Even on a powerful computer, virtual machines can cause problems when performing resource-intensive tasks such as playing games, watching 3D, editing videos, etc.

This is because virtualization is a bit related to emulation and the operating system emulator is not as effective as the original operating system. Therefore, if you intend to perform CPU or GPU resource consuming tasks, it is best to switch to the dual-boot method.

Use an operating system for a long time

Virtual machines are the perfect choice for multitasking, allowing users to switch between multiple operating systems with simple keyboard shortcuts Alt + Tab . However, if you use a virtual operating system for hours, this is not the best option.

For example, if you use the main operating system as Windows but as a programmer you like to write code in a Linux environment and spend many hours on a project, then dual boot into Linux and make good use of the many advantages The speed of the original operating system is the smarter way.

1. 7 risks when booting dual operating systems Windows and Linux

Computer using SSD

Today, SSDs are so fast that you can turn off and restart your computer in seconds. And this is good news for those who want to make a dual boot.

1. 7 reasons to upgrade to an SSD

With the HDD, switching from one operating system to another may take 5 to 10 minutes and if you have to do this many times a day it is uncomfortable. But with an SSD, you can jump from Windows operating system to Ubuntu in less than a minute when comparing the time needed to go back to Ubuntun virtualization. So if your computer has an SSD equipped page, consider dual booting.

Run a specific application

Suppose you are a Linux user and are completely satisfied with this environment but as a photographer you need to use Adobe Lightroom to edit some photos for customers.

1. The best free photo editing software

In this case dual booting is not necessary because you only run a certain application that is not available on the original operating system. Therefore, virtual machines really shine for cases like this.

Test an operating system

You have been a loyal Windows user so far, but your friends have recently complimented the Linux operating system. However, you are not sure you want to completely switch to this operating system. In that case you should use virtual machines instead of dual booting.

Although dual booting is convenient, uninstalling dual boot steps is not easy. But you can create and delete virtual machines as you like, making them the right choice for testing the operating system.

Need more security against malware

One of the biggest benefits of virtual machines compared to dual booting is that the virtual machine is protected by the sandbox technology, which means that a virtualized operating system runs in a completely isolated environment, nothing in This virtualized operating system may affect the original operating system.

So, if you are going to test security vulnerabilities or check the effectiveness of a security suite, do it inside a virtual machine. In case of malicious software, simply delete the virtual machine and reboot.

Copy an operating system

Copying an operating system is the ability of a virtual machine that dual booting cannot be performed. You can save the entire operating system into a separate file, then transfer this file to another computer and transfer it as a virtual machine on that computer. In essence you have cloned it.

This copy is very useful and has high mobility, so you can bring the system around without a specific physical machine. In addition, it is also useful to create a system backup, if problems occur you can return to the correct copy of the previous system. Most virtualization software supports cloning like this.

Hope the article gives you some ideas about choosing dual boot or virtual machine. If you decide to choose a virtual machine method, you can refer to the article VirtualBox and VMware: which virtual machine software is better ?, these are the two best virtualization tools for Windows.

See more:

1. Install multiple operating systems on virtual machines
2. Use parallel Windows 7 and Windows 8 on PC
3. Instructions for speeding up virtual machines in full set