Dual-boots

[Missy]

So I am finally goingto be able to build myself a new PC which can handle just about anything I do with it, well for a couple years at least.

The thign I don't really know much about is Dual-booting, since I'm not really sure about OS stuff. I'll probably try using windows some as it isn't really too expensive, but especially since I've heard more games are being built with compatibility for Linux and SteamOS I kind of want to be able to use them should either become particularly viable.

The questions I have are:

1) Does anyone have any knowledge or expertise to be able to tell me a bit more about the pros and cons of each?

2) I have read Linux comes with a tool that makes dual booting easy and simple do I need to start with Linux?

3) If for some reason I didn't set it up to dual boot at first but then decided to later would it be harder to set it up that way?

Thanks

[Vekseid]

If you start with Linux, keep in mind Windows setup will often ask you to 'adjust' the partitions. Don't let it. You will want to use msdos partition table anyway.

Specific advice will depend on your setup, but if you start with one disk, you will likely want three partitions. One for Linux, one for Windows, and a third shared partition.

[Missy]

Setup? Do you mean hardware?

[Vekseid]

Yes, number and type of drives, mostly.

[NightLux]

If you start with Linux, keep in mind Windows setup will often ask you to 'adjust' the partitions. Don't let it. You will want to use msdos partition table anyway.

Specific advice will depend on your setup, but if you start with one disk, you will likely want three partitions. One for Linux, one for Windows, and a third shared partition.

With the cost of hard drives, I'd almost recommend you get an SSD to partition between Linux and Windows and then a massive, fast HDD to serve as your "data" drive.  That's the setup I currently run and, in general, I like it.  My SSD is large enough that I can also have a Steam/game folder on it so that the current game I'm playing like crazy can have the nice advantages of the SSD over the HDD.

[Vekseid]

I'm never going back to platter drives again, personally. >_>

[Missy]

I'll be using s single SSD Drive. My build is listed in the second post here.

I've heard you could use multiple ones to have different OS on, but it sounded more complicated and I kind of don't know if theres really a benefit.

[NightLux]

I'm never going back to platter drives again, personally. >_>

Now that they have 1 TB SSDs aren't entirely obsenely expensive I've been tempted to pick one up and move all my Steam/games to it rather than piggy backing on the OS drive.  But I was able to pick up two 3 TB platters a year ago for almost nothing.  Every month I pull one of them out of the safety deposit box, copy all my files to it, and drop it back off.  I'm at 1.2 TB... but that'll probably not grow too much since I left the consulting world.

I'll be using s single SSD Drive. My build is listed in the second post here.

I've heard you could use multiple ones to have different OS on, but it sounded more complicated and I kind of don't know if theres really a benefit.

I was tempted to put Windows on one SSD and Linux on another when I did my last build, but it seemed like a waste.  And I'm OCD, that means more wires.  The biggest benefit is if the drive fails, you can still boot to your storage.  Then again, I have a SATA to USB cord, so if it dies I can pull data off that big platter onto my laptop if push comes to shove.