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Virtual Machine or Dual Boot? and Backing Up Software

Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Laptop Specs:
Core Duo @ 1.83GHz
2.5GB RAM
100GB 7200RPM hdd
ATI MR X1600
Intel Wireless

I currently have Ubuntu Hardy (now my main OS) and Windows XP installed on my computer. When Intrepid is going to be released, I am planning on reformatting my entire machine, as my XP install has been acting weird for months (issues before installing Ubuntu) and I want to repartition stuff a little bit better. I was wondering if it might just be better to run XP in a virtual machine environment instead. I only need to use XP for Photoshop Lightroom and MS Word (since WINE+MS Word and OO both have issues displaying equations properly in documents - but only need this about once a week). Would there be a serious difference in speed and stability to using something like Lightroom in a VM environment compared with running it in a native Windows installation? Also, would a VM be hard to set up?

Additionally, I've been looking for a replacement to my backup software since I switched to using Ubuntu. In Windows, I was using SyncBack, which allowed me to just synchronize what was on my internal drive with my external drive (deleting files from the external that were not on the internal). Does anyone have a suggestion as to what I could use for backing up? I also have a requirement of being able to access the files easily, so if they were in some kind of archiving format, it wouldn't work well for me.
 
I use XP at home, and I run several VMs on top of that (VMWare). I couldn't be happier with my setup -- if you can install an OS, you can run a VM.

Specifically:
Speed: You'll never notice the difference if you're not doing a lot of I/O and system calls. Booting will be slower of course, but you can just pause the machine once it's booted and resume later. I don't think that VMs can take full advantage of graphics hardware, however, so be aware of that.
Stability: VM stability depends on the host's stability. If you have a rock-solid Linux configuration, you should be fine.


I can't help on the backup front -- but I'd be eager to hear what others have to say.
 
I don't have anything that uses my graphics hardware anymore in Windows. I just don't have time to play games because of school and work. The few games I might still pick up are really old too (Heroes of Might and Magic III, Icewind Dale II, SC) and I could probably easily run them with WINE or through the VM. Ubuntu has been very stable on my system, so I guess I'll give it a try. It would certainly make it much easier (in terms of my laziness at times) to edit photos, as I won't have to reboot to access Lightroom.

I'm still working out what I want to do though... I may just go my original route in case I do pick up some game that needs hardware acceleration. The VM was kind of a side thought that I ran across as I was reading another thread.
 
Dual boot OR VM?

Why not both?

Dual boot to Linux and Windows, install VMWare Server on both, store VMs on a separate partition that both can access and r/w to.
 
Originally posted by: child of wonder
Dual boot OR VM?

Why not both?

Dual boot to Linux and Windows, install VMWare Server on both, store VMs on a separate partition that both can access and r/w to.
Click to expand...

That sounds more complicated than it is worth.

I think I'll just stick with my original plan and have separate installation. Setting up a VM was just an idea I toyed with.
 
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