Linux host with multiple Windows VM's as an alternative to Windows PC?

[Zoinks]

Windows has always been frustrating, but as updates continue to create problems, the UI gets stupider (everything in 'settings' seems dumbed down and 10x harder than in the control panel), and the need to wipe and install a fresh OS (sometimes followed by a round of removing candy crush, one drive and the 3D objects folder -- and sometimes just resignation) becomes more frequent --- I find Linux becoming easier to use and more and more flexible and capable.

I'm loving my Unraid NAS and its dockers and I'm wondering if replacing windows as the OS on my workstation with Linux and putting everything windows into multiple windows client VM's is a viable solution. The most intensive thing I do is photoprocessing. Lightroom and Photoshop would like GPU access for acceleration and pass lots of data back and forth with plug ins and secondary programs. Already I can use them in Virtual Box although they are a bit slower - can I get these running efficiently with proper attention to configuration? Lots of memory and cores to the needy VM's and small efficient dockers for the things that don't need resources? I have lots of cores (Ryzen 1950X) and memory (64GB) to hand out to my VM's.

Is it just my imagination that Linux can do all this more efficiently and I won't need to keep fighting with my computer that wants me to log in with a microsoft account (and no, I don't want to keep Edge as my default browser) and is it just me, or is it creepy when your computer says 'We're setting things up for you...'

(I guess I'm just ranting now. I'm Ok - I feel better now.)

If it is feasible, is there a good guide for doing this sort of thing? I've been getting some good experience with Ubuntu, Debian and BSD but I still think I need someone more experienced to follow.

 

[sdifox]

How will that help if you end up running in windows anyway?

 

[JackMDS]

VM is a Great invention but Not a perfect solution for many scenarios.

It works well in passive setting specially when there is No Constant KBD Visual interaction.

For regular use by Regular users no matter what you do it is slower and restrictive in some scenarios.

Quote: ".Lightroom and Photoshop would like GPU access for acceleration and pass lots of data back and forth with plug ins and secondary programs".

What in the quote would be sluggish no matter what you do on a VM.

It probably would be better using one fast Win 10 computer, and getting a less expensive second unit. Install on what else (Linux and the like) that you need would help in other endeavors.

 

[mikeymikec]

@Zoinks

Why do you have an increasingly frequent need to wipe Windows and reinstall it?

While I have a few serious issues with Windows 10 (and have moved on to Linux myself with as you say a few assisting Windows VMs), frequent reinstalling hasn't been an issue for me since the days of Windows 95/98.

I haven't yet implemented graphics hardware acceleration for a VM under Linux (I've been using and have stuck to Oracle Virtualbox), I tried to enable it in my Win7 VM recently and the Windows Photo Viewer crashed every time until I disabled the GPU acceleration setting. Other people here I believe have managed to get graphics hardware acceleration working in a VM that runs on Linux.

Re: Microsoft account - I've managed to side-step it but it is one of my issues with Win8x/Win10x in terms of MS's pettiness in trying to push it in many ways.

 

[mxnerd]

Get Open Shell Menu to solve most UI problem.

GitHub - Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Classic Shell Reborn.

Classic Shell Reborn. Contribute to Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Use some PowerShell scripts and tools to remove most unnecessary Apps from MS Store.

Question - Strip Win10 to bare essentials?

Are there any app to remove the bloat from 10 like the store, games, x-box, Edge, messenger, etc?

forums.anandtech.com

Like others have said, if you still need to work in Windows, put it into a VM does not solve any problems.

 

[PingSpike]

Just pass a graphics card through to your windows VM, its one of the things unraid is best at doing. I see no reason your lightroom work wouldn't be very similar to bare metal with that configuration.

Running Windows in a VM is in many ways better than than on bare metal. You can use snapshots of the file system to quickly restore to known working configurations.