Ubuntu and Windows
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Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
I would recomend using Windows with a VM for Ubuntu. The simple reason is performance. The benefits that windows has as you say more "polished" are mostly lost when VMing into it. Most of the things you need in Ubuntu will be fine when using a VM though. Atleast most the things I can think of.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
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Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
I'm currently dual-booting Win7 and Ubuntu, as I have a contract job that requires Ubuntu. I generally agree with your assessment. Ubuntu is faster and more responsive than Win7, but it has more rough edges than Windows. I wouldn't know about 'safer', other than to surmise that Ubuntu is safer chiefly because it is a far less prominent target. It sounds like Ubuntu is your normal working environment. My preference would be to definitely keep that as a 'native' boot. My suggestion is to buy a second computer, dedicate one to Ubuntu, the other to Windows. I've used enough virtual machines now that I prefer to test natively whenever possible. There always seems to be behavior differences between native boots and virtual machines that cause grief when testing.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
You may well know this but I will mention it anyway as it caught me out. If you have a dual boot machine and remove or reformat the Ubuntu partition you may lose the ability to boot into Windows. What you need to do is rebuild the Master boot Record so that you reboot into Windows after you have removed the dual partition. There are tools out there which will do this for you - I mention this as I was caught out and even though I thought I was prepared it took me the best part of an evening to find something that would rebuild the MBR for Windows. I used Hiren's BootCD[^] to recreate the MBR. This is why I would recommend using something like Oracle's VirtualBox[^] as it is clean and you won't run into the issue with removing a dual boot from your computer.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
For what it's worth: I loaded Ubuntu as the second partition on a Windows Box: No Problems. I loaded Windows as second partition on an Ubuntu box: it destroyed grub and I had to restore it and other sundry entries to even see Ubuntu again. Windows does not play nice with others - and entrusting your Ubuntu to the care of Windows (VM or otherwise) in my opinion, is risky business - and since it is your business at stake, is it a gamble you wish to take?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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I'm currently dual-booting Win7 and Ubuntu, as I have a contract job that requires Ubuntu. I generally agree with your assessment. Ubuntu is faster and more responsive than Win7, but it has more rough edges than Windows. I wouldn't know about 'safer', other than to surmise that Ubuntu is safer chiefly because it is a far less prominent target. It sounds like Ubuntu is your normal working environment. My preference would be to definitely keep that as a 'native' boot. My suggestion is to buy a second computer, dedicate one to Ubuntu, the other to Windows. I've used enough virtual machines now that I prefer to test natively whenever possible. There always seems to be behavior differences between native boots and virtual machines that cause grief when testing.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary Wheeler wrote:
My suggestion is to buy a second computer, dedicate one to Ubuntu, the other to Windows.
I second this suggestion... :thumbsup:
Gary Wheeler wrote:
There always seems to be behavior differences between native boots and virtual machines that cause grief when testing.
Yep, sometimes you're not sure whether you're testing the VM software or your bug. Better off eliminating a middle man IMHO.
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Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
If I was going to do this, I'd have virtual-Windows inside of Linux. Windows needs to constantly reboot for updates, a stable Linux doesn't really have to do that (although Ubuntu does put out an ungodly number of updates sometimes). With that said however, if it's business related, I'd go with Gary's suggestion of just dishing out the cash to have a separate box for Linux (or Windows). Virtual machines are good for some things but not all.
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For what it's worth: I loaded Ubuntu as the second partition on a Windows Box: No Problems. I loaded Windows as second partition on an Ubuntu box: it destroyed grub and I had to restore it and other sundry entries to even see Ubuntu again. Windows does not play nice with others - and entrusting your Ubuntu to the care of Windows (VM or otherwise) in my opinion, is risky business - and since it is your business at stake, is it a gamble you wish to take?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
W∴ Balboos wrote:
Windows does not play nice with others - and entrusting your Ubuntu to the care of Windows (VM or otherwise) in my opinion, is risky business
Troubles with dual-booting doesn't translate to problems with VMs, those are entirely different scenarios (and Windows works just fine with VMs).
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W∴ Balboos wrote:
Windows does not play nice with others - and entrusting your Ubuntu to the care of Windows (VM or otherwise) in my opinion, is risky business
Troubles with dual-booting doesn't translate to problems with VMs, those are entirely different scenarios (and Windows works just fine with VMs).
lewax00 wrote:
and Windows works just fine with VMs
At least for now.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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lewax00 wrote:
and Windows works just fine with VMs
At least for now.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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For what it's worth: I loaded Ubuntu as the second partition on a Windows Box: No Problems. I loaded Windows as second partition on an Ubuntu box: it destroyed grub and I had to restore it and other sundry entries to even see Ubuntu again. Windows does not play nice with others - and entrusting your Ubuntu to the care of Windows (VM or otherwise) in my opinion, is risky business - and since it is your business at stake, is it a gamble you wish to take?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
W∴ Balboos wrote:
I loaded Windows as second partition on an Ubuntu box: it destroyed grub
That's a well-known Windows issue... they overwrite the MBR and pretend they're the only OS on the machine. Although, they may have resolved this since WinXP (maybe? :doh: ).
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Considering the contributions Microsoft has made to the Linux kernel in the interest of making it run smoothly as a VM on their platforms, I doubt it's changing anytime soon.
Considering this has only happened within the last couple of years... it may change very soon. Depending on who's in charge at MS.
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Considering this has only happened within the last couple of years... it may change very soon. Depending on who's in charge at MS.
At the very least I doubt MS would intentionally hinder VMs, because they have nothing to gain from doing so (and in fact would probably hurt them). Then again, parts of Windows 8 seems like terrible ideas, so maybe I'm assuming they're more rational than they actually are :doh:
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At the very least I doubt MS would intentionally hinder VMs, because they have nothing to gain from doing so (and in fact would probably hurt them). Then again, parts of Windows 8 seems like terrible ideas, so maybe I'm assuming they're more rational than they actually are :doh:
lewax00 wrote:
At the very least I doubt MS would intentionally hinder VMs, because they have nothing to gain from doing so (and in fact would probably hurt them).
Agree...
lewax00 wrote:
maybe I'm assuming they're more rational than they actually are
:laugh:
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ubuntu os, windows xp virtual box vm <--- been using it for years without reinstall and no crash
01101111 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101101 01101001 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101100 01101111 01110011 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01100101 01100001 01110010
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Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
I've been like that for near 3 years now, with Windows running from a VM. I personally rarely use windows these days. Microsoft lost me with Vista (what a dysmal failure that was). Windows 7 was quite good to be honest but by then I had moved on to better things (IMO :) ). I find this to be the perfect environment, but you do need something with a little oomph to it. I had to get an SSD drive and that really made a difference for my laptop. I'm going to be upgrading my laptop as soon as I'm properly settled in and see about getting an i5 with about 8GB of RAM.
If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Quote worthy: I hereby claim this thread in the name of Drivel. Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]? Food
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At the very least I doubt MS would intentionally hinder VMs, because they have nothing to gain from doing so (and in fact would probably hurt them). Then again, parts of Windows 8 seems like terrible ideas, so maybe I'm assuming they're more rational than they actually are :doh:
lewax00 wrote:
Then again, parts of Windows 8 seems like terrible ideas, so maybe I'm assuming they're more rational than they actually are :doh:
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Classic!
If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Quote worthy: I hereby claim this thread in the name of Drivel. Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]? Food
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I'm currently dual-booting Win7 and Ubuntu, as I have a contract job that requires Ubuntu. I generally agree with your assessment. Ubuntu is faster and more responsive than Win7, but it has more rough edges than Windows. I wouldn't know about 'safer', other than to surmise that Ubuntu is safer chiefly because it is a far less prominent target. It sounds like Ubuntu is your normal working environment. My preference would be to definitely keep that as a 'native' boot. My suggestion is to buy a second computer, dedicate one to Ubuntu, the other to Windows. I've used enough virtual machines now that I prefer to test natively whenever possible. There always seems to be behavior differences between native boots and virtual machines that cause grief when testing.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
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I've been like that for near 3 years now, with Windows running from a VM. I personally rarely use windows these days. Microsoft lost me with Vista (what a dysmal failure that was). Windows 7 was quite good to be honest but by then I had moved on to better things (IMO :) ). I find this to be the perfect environment, but you do need something with a little oomph to it. I had to get an SSD drive and that really made a difference for my laptop. I'm going to be upgrading my laptop as soon as I'm properly settled in and see about getting an i5 with about 8GB of RAM.
If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Quote worthy: I hereby claim this thread in the name of Drivel. Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]? Food
Hmm. I have heard all different opinions here, and I have several machines available that I could use. That seems like it may be the best option. Also, by safer all I meant was that viruses are less of a concern due to Windows being the target of most. I will probably stick with Windows 7 on my desktop for normal operations and Ubuntu on my laptop or a VM. The server environment I'm developing is entirely self contained, and I have several remote cloud servers I can test it on, so the scariness of a VM for me isn't as big of a factor. At the same time, I just plane like Ubuntu. There isn't a perfect solution I don't think. The bottom line is this for me: Ubuntu, although it should be (IMO), isn't as popular or mainstream as Windows, and is doesn't run everything Windows can. I find myself rebooting several times in a day due to different things (I have two projects currently, one using .Net/C++ and one for Linux).
Collin Biedenkapp
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Hi there guys, This is a question I have been dying to ask. I currently dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but rebooting is a pain. So, my question is this: Of those of you that have used Windows (or use it still), if you've used Ubuntu, which did you like better and why? I am trying to decide if it is time to install Windows in a VBox from Ubuntu or vice-versa. I need a Linux environment regardless as I am developing a Linux server-side application. I like Ubuntu, and it is faster and safer than Windows, but it is less polished in some ways (IMO) than Windows. I have used Windows 8 and it seems that there are some drastic, less than idea (again, IMO) changes coming along. I am preparing to have to line myself up with another OS. Opinions everyone?
Collin Biedenkapp
I gave up Windows about 4 years ago at home, but at work I have one Windows box and one Ubuntu box. I share the keyboard and mouse with a kvm switch and each box has a dedicated monitor. I use synergy to allow the mouse and keyboard to be used across both monitors (and copy and paste between the 2 systems). This has been an ideal setup, although you need to make the Windows computer the synergy "server" and the Ubuntu box the client (due to uac). In order to communicate securely over the network between your 2 systems, install cygwin on Windows and use the ssh server, and run autossh on Ubuntu to create an encrypted tunnel between the two. On Windows, set up synergy server. On Ubuntu box run: autossh -fNL localhost:24800::24800 then: synergyc -f localhost It should connect to the windows synergs server right away, so switch the kvm to the Windows computer and your mouse and keyboard should work across both screens. Scott P.S. I used to run Windows in VirtualBox under ubuntu, but you need to give it at least 4GB RAM to be able to reliably run Visual Studio 10.
