Is it better to dual-boot or run a VM?

I want to run Windows Vista 64bit (Eventually Windows 7) and Ubuntu on the same machine.

I want to play games and do graphic design in Windows. I want to write code, surf the internet, check email, and do everything else primarily on Linux.

Windows obviously can't be hosted in a VM since I want to do intense graphics stuff, but I was wondering if it would make more sense to go ahead and run a VM with Linux on it, which would require me to boot into Windows and and start the Linux VM every time. Or, If I should just dual boot, and boot into Linux about 80% of the time, and just restart when I need to use Windows.

I don't have much experience in this area and I'm leaning more towards dual-booting at the moment. Can you guys shed some light on the subject? Is it better to dual-boot or just run a Linux VM?

Solution 1:

Dual boot is a waste of time. I describe it to people as "the 5-minute alt-tab". It's a pain to configure, and because you can't run both OSes at once, when you need the one you're not running, you have to kill off every app and reboot.

I avoid dual boot like the plague. VM all the way.

Or, just use a single OS that does what you want. Windows with Cygwin provides a lot of the Unixy stuff that most people need.

Solution 2:

if you don't need the full potential of your graphics card for your Linux application, then Virtualization will certainly suffice. if you do, then native Linux is mandatory.

but don't let ZimmyDubZongyZongDubby scare you with his remarks. Wubi is a painless and easy way (and thus ideal for novices) to setup any flavour of Ubuntu in a Windows/Linux dualboot environment. install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way.