Dual boot vs Virtual PC

Basically, I know how a virtual PC works, but how does dual boot work? And what's the diff between the two and which one is easier and less buggy? thx

 

Dual booting is where you start the computer with a specific os (you have two on your computer, and when you turn on the computer you pick).

Virtual pc is where one os is running inside another.

someone else can probobly give a better description, though.

What OSes are you looking at and what are you planninng to do?

 

Using Virtual Machines
Advantages

• Can run multiple operating systems at the same time
• Can move from one host machine to another, just by copying a few files over
• Less buggy since the virtualized hardware has rock solid drivers for the virtual machine
• If using VMWare Server (free by the way), you can take snapshots of your virtual machine allowing for recovery incase something goes wrong
• Better suited for trying out new operating systems and applications

Disadvantages

• Requires more RAM, since you are running two operating systems at the same time
• Slower than dual-booting, since hardware is virtualized (faked)
• Gaming on a virtual machine might suffer performance-wise
• Slower startup, since you have to boot into the host operating system first, then boot into the virtual machine afterwards

Dual Booting
Advantages

• Can run dual-booted operating systems at full speed
• Requires less RAM, since running one operating system at a time

Disadvantages

• Cannot run two operating systems at the same time, unless you reboot and select the other operating system

A Security Note On Virtual Machines
It is recommended to install an anti-virus application on the virtual machine, even if you already have one installed on the host operating system. The virtual machine is essentially a whole computer, and is just as suseptible to viruses. You could download a file using the virtual machine and launch it from there which might have a virus inside, for example.

 

Thanks alot man, that pretty much covered it I think