Virtualization versus dual boot: Vista + Linux

[DoubleHelix747]

I was looking into Vista + Linux dual boot for my new rig that is now is the process of being assembled. Not that I really need it, but purely for learning purposes - its about the journey, not the destination (although it would be nice to reach there).

Basically (for now) I plan to (1) get into the Linux world (2) Use Linux as the primary platform for surfing to eliminate malaware risk (3) Run R (statistics package), emacs editor and some programming (4) Run MythTV. This list will probably grow as times goes by and I become more familiar with Linux.

While googling dual boot, I came across another option that involves virtualization instead of dual boot:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_virtu...tu_on_vista.htm?page=1

So my question is - which scheme is better: dual boot or virtualization? I can see virtualization would require more resources. On the other hand, the risk of messing up Windows installation is reduced.

And how would virtualization work in real life? Say I want to run MythTV. Would I just open a virtual Linux window and proceed as usual? What happens when I close the virtual OS?

Please help me think through this thing and ask the right questions? I am not computing illiterate but new to this topic.

TIA.

About my new rig:
Intel Quad core 9300
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel RAM
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
MSI N9600GT 512M OC GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit

 

[Nothinman]

Virtualization works fine for everything that doesn't require lots of disk I/O because it's slower or hardware accelerated 3D because most of them don't support it yet although that's changing.

And how would virtualization work in real life? Say I want to run MythTV. Would I just open a virtual Linux window and proceed as usual? What happens when I close the virtual OS?

Think of it as separate PC, you boot it up inside of the VM software and it comes up just like another machine. I have an XP VM at work and I usually let it run in the background and then RDP into it from Linux although you can use the console provided by the VM software.

 

[DoubleHelix747]

Hmmm... interesting. So you are using RDP to connect from host OS (terminal server?) to the guest OS (terminal client?) on the same machine?

Doesn't require lots of disk I/O - so ideally suited for browsing but bad for R which requires manipulation of humongous amount of data?

I guess I really need to play with this to get a feeling. I have a 640GB 7200RPM drive which is highly regarded for speed. I think I am going to configure it for both dual boot as well as virtualization by making 3 partitions - partition 1: Vista and applications, partition 2: Linux and applications 3: data and storage. And then also use virtualization to run Linux within Vista or Vista within Linux. This sounds like a plan in theory but I still have to figure out the practical aspects of it. Any opinions/suggestions?

Two other very noob questions:

(1) How would one decide what makes more sense - running Vista inside Linux or running Linux inside Vista?
(2) Can one run Vista inside Vista (so host and guest OS are the same)? What I am getting to is the security - if my virtual OS gets affected by malaware, I just close it and be done with no damage done?

 

[Nothinman]

Hmmm... interesting. So you are using RDP to connect from host OS (terminal server?) to the guest OS (terminal client?) on the same machine?

I've got remote desktop enabled in XP (guest) in VMware and use rdesktop in Linux (host) to connect to it.

Doesn't require lots of disk I/O - so ideally suited for browsing but bad for R which requires manipulation of humongous amount of data?

If R is the more intense app that you're going to use why not make Linux your host and put Windows in a VM? Gaming is probably the only thing that Windows does better than Linux but you won't be doing that in a VM right now.

(2) Can one run Vista inside Vista (so host and guest OS are the same)? What I am getting to is the security - if my virtual OS gets affected by malaware, I just close it and be done with no damage done?

You can run pretty much whatever OS you want in the VM, but you would need 2 Vista licenses for it to be legal. The guest OS is just like another machine on the network, so if the malware only affects one machine the host will be unaffected but if it spreads over the network the host would be at risk too.

 

[DoubleHelix747]

Thank you. Very helpful.