destrekor
Lifer
Explanation:
I just got a second SSD for the purpose. I have some somewhat crazy ideas on how I might just get Linux to be, for the most part, a possible daily driver. Will be going with Ubuntu... I recently put Ubuntu 12.10 (Gnome Shell alpha release) on my laptop alongside Win7. I'll be going with 12.10 Beta 1 (Unity) on the PC - will see how I feel about things from there.
I also have come to realize I really, really want to try Win8 on native hardware (as opposed to a virtual OS environment like VirtualBox). To that end, I've already got the Win8 Release Preview x64 ISO burned.
My main OS (Win7) is currently on an SSD. Ignoring other drives (non-OS), I just added a second SSD (180GB).
I've been thinking about Win8 on a VHD, booting into it like that. Slightly reduced data access times, but otherwise a good test environment with real hardware.
Question:
How best to go about this triple boot environment, with the most efficient boot loader and everything working well in the end?
I'm definitely going to throw Ubuntu on the second SSD. Should I continue with the Win8 on VHD idea, and throw the VHD on one of my HDDs (it'd be on a Raid0 Intel RAID volume).
Or should I just split up the SSD and go with true partitions both for Ubuntu and Win8?
If I do the latter, I can use GRUB. Not entirely sure if I want to go the GRUB route or not...
If I do the former... I'm not sure how booting to VHDs works in GRUB, if at all.
And to that end, what of the install order? What will offer the most painless path to the goal of having Win7, Win8, and Ubuntu on a boot menu?
It will take time before I figure out if Ubuntu or my Win7 install will eventually be the default, but that at least is an easy change in any boot loader.
I've heard Win8's bootloader runs AFTER the initial Win8 boot.
I do like the way it looks, from the screenshots I've seen - Metro is right at home in a boot-loader environment 😀 I like big flashy stupid-simple readouts like that - GRUB and the like (and default Win7 and before boot loader) just look sinfully ugly. I know GRUB can be skinned but I haven't seen a skin that looks as beautifully simple and clean and the Win8 menu.
But if I were to run with the Win8 bootloader, is that going to slow things down? That sounds woefully inefficient to me, having the menu presented AFTER the Win8 loading screen.
Which, if I do go that route (just to have the Win8 bootloader), I'd probably just install it to a partition on the SSD anyway, just to ensure that boot time is at least snappy.
To wrap it up - basically, Win8 on/in a VHD or partition? What install order? What boot loader?
I know some is more or less an opinion, but some opinions are better than others. 😉
Some like things flashier and "more beautiful", but ultimately I want the most efficient solution, with the best reliability/performance. So use that idea to steer opinions. 🙂
I just got a second SSD for the purpose. I have some somewhat crazy ideas on how I might just get Linux to be, for the most part, a possible daily driver. Will be going with Ubuntu... I recently put Ubuntu 12.10 (Gnome Shell alpha release) on my laptop alongside Win7. I'll be going with 12.10 Beta 1 (Unity) on the PC - will see how I feel about things from there.
I also have come to realize I really, really want to try Win8 on native hardware (as opposed to a virtual OS environment like VirtualBox). To that end, I've already got the Win8 Release Preview x64 ISO burned.
My main OS (Win7) is currently on an SSD. Ignoring other drives (non-OS), I just added a second SSD (180GB).
I've been thinking about Win8 on a VHD, booting into it like that. Slightly reduced data access times, but otherwise a good test environment with real hardware.
Question:
How best to go about this triple boot environment, with the most efficient boot loader and everything working well in the end?
I'm definitely going to throw Ubuntu on the second SSD. Should I continue with the Win8 on VHD idea, and throw the VHD on one of my HDDs (it'd be on a Raid0 Intel RAID volume).
Or should I just split up the SSD and go with true partitions both for Ubuntu and Win8?
If I do the latter, I can use GRUB. Not entirely sure if I want to go the GRUB route or not...
If I do the former... I'm not sure how booting to VHDs works in GRUB, if at all.
And to that end, what of the install order? What will offer the most painless path to the goal of having Win7, Win8, and Ubuntu on a boot menu?
It will take time before I figure out if Ubuntu or my Win7 install will eventually be the default, but that at least is an easy change in any boot loader.
I've heard Win8's bootloader runs AFTER the initial Win8 boot.
I do like the way it looks, from the screenshots I've seen - Metro is right at home in a boot-loader environment 😀 I like big flashy stupid-simple readouts like that - GRUB and the like (and default Win7 and before boot loader) just look sinfully ugly. I know GRUB can be skinned but I haven't seen a skin that looks as beautifully simple and clean and the Win8 menu.
But if I were to run with the Win8 bootloader, is that going to slow things down? That sounds woefully inefficient to me, having the menu presented AFTER the Win8 loading screen.
Which, if I do go that route (just to have the Win8 bootloader), I'd probably just install it to a partition on the SSD anyway, just to ensure that boot time is at least snappy.
To wrap it up - basically, Win8 on/in a VHD or partition? What install order? What boot loader?
I know some is more or less an opinion, but some opinions are better than others. 😉
Some like things flashier and "more beautiful", but ultimately I want the most efficient solution, with the best reliability/performance. So use that idea to steer opinions. 🙂
