Dual Booting XP & Ubuntu vs Ubuntu and VMware XP

Hi guys,


I won't be doing any gaming on my T61 , so I was wondering if it was just better for me to opt for a Ubuntu boot along with XP in a VMware or should I still dual boot them ?


Thanks for the input

EDIT :

Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz
4GB Crucial Memory (upgrade)
14.1" SXGA+ (TMD no dead pixel)
Intel X3100 Graphics
80GB HDD
CDRW/DVD-ROM
Bluetooth
Intel 4965AGN (upgrade)
6 cell Battery

 

Depending on your specs, running XP in a virtual machine may tax your resources heavily. What's your specs? If you're sure you're ready for the plunge you should check out Linux alternatives to Windows software so you don't need XP.

 

That thread really needs an update, I'll write one, I just need to contact a mod.

 

Updated the original post with the specs..

Also :

I sometimes bump into some special software with school stuff ( I study in software engineering ) that requires Windows. I personally switched my main rig to Ubuntu LTS 8.04 64bits, but my laptop is used at school and eventually at work so it's really just for those "in case" moments that I need windows. I've always found XP light and fast with a proper user. I usually install firefox and nod32 and I know what not to open...

 

Running XP in a virtual box might not kill your system, but what are the apps you need in Windows? Maybe there is a linux alternative.

 

I am looking into the same thing as you. I think I am going to take the plunge and run a virtual xp or vista system within my ubuntu 8.04 os.

I do have an advantage of having a cpu that has virtualization features (intel 7300) so I am able to get quite a speed increase. I've heard that running an os virtualized in KVM is near native speed and high intensity tasks only run an average of about a second or two slower than non-virtual.

The KVM software with virt-manager is in the ubuntu repositories.

Read this very good article named virtualization made easy in ubuntu 8.04 http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=983&num=1

I would try running KVM/Virt-Manager over Virtualbox or VMWare Server because of the KVM's large community, its better performance, open source code, and its support for cpu virtualization.

 

I understand where you're going with this, but at this point, it's not about finding alternatives. I'd rather have XP on hand and ready to use if need be than have to go through a series of alternatives that sometimes bring up compatibility issues with my cooworkers/teacher's setup since alot still use Windows. I know that most of the issues can be ironed out with some time and patience, but I'm not willing to expand my workload having to assure compatibility... 90% of what I'll do will be under Linux, but for that 10% where I have to bang my head against a wall, I'd rather go Windows and get it over with....


I was just asking the question to know if there would be a huge performance impact, but I guess not...

Thanks, I'll look into it !

 

I think that with the next release of VMware Workstation, there will be support for booting a physical Windows partition as a virtual machine. Then you won't have to make a choice In fact, I think you can get the beta version for free from VMware's site right now.

There's a way to do this with VirtualBox as well, but I've never tried. I think there was something you had to change in Windows before you could boot it the other way each time, so I never bothered. Something to do with activation and different hardware setups, IIRC. It would probably be better with VirtualBox actually, since you have the seamless windows support, but VMware might be adding that soon as well. You can try Googling for it.

 

FYI, I have XP running in VirtualBox on Kubuntu 64 on a very similarly configured system, and I do it for work. It's not going to win any races, but Windows is still very usable, and lets me have Excel and other Windows apps if I absolutely need them (which is getting less and less often by the day thanks to our development team).

I don't use VMWare any more because of the spat they had with the kernel developers which means VMWare won't run on current kernels, so that just rules that straight out. It is a good solution, but it's just not workable with an updated machine.

 

Uhh, you do know you can't upgrade the wireless card.
And if I'm wrong and you can, then it probably won't accept it.

 

A wireless card is just a MiniPCIe card inside the machine. It's quite upgradeable if you can afford a replacement card. But what I'd bet he did was upgrade at purchase time from the crappy Broadcom-esque card that's standard with most machines to an Intel 4965 card, which is properly supported under Linux, and was just noting that.

 

Yes, forget VMware....use VirtualBox 1.6.0 non free (requires accepting license agreement, but free) so you can use usb devices to print or scan, flash drives, etc or it's worthless for anything except testing. Follow the link in my sig for instructions to get usb working with XP or Vista in Virtualbox...scroll down.

 

Some machines don't boot unless they have the proper card inside, is what I was saying.