| Dual-booting Vista and Linux |
Jan. 26, 2007
In Part 1 of this series, DesktopLinux.com columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols prepared a system for use in comparing the features and performance of Windows Vista with Linux. In this second segment, our fearless curmudgeon installs the two operating systems and configures the resulting system for dual-booting, using the GRUB bootloader.
The process is not without its challenges. For one thing, Vista boasts "a new bootloader, BCD (Boot Configuration Data) [that] is designed to be firmware-independent. It also comes with a new boot option editing tool, BCDEdit.exe, which isn't so much user-friendly as user-hostile," Vaughan-Nichols writes.
Another potential pitfall is BitLocker, about which security guru Bruce Schneier has said, "You could look at BitLocker as anti-Linux because it frustrates dual boot."
A third, is that "once both systems are on the machine..., you're going to quickly find that you can only boot the system into Linux, thanks to the unfriendly Vista BCD."
Vaughan-Nichols handles all these issues, and more, to arrive at the goal: a dual-booting Vista/Linux system. In the end, he shows us his shiny new Vista and MEPIS desktops to prove he got there.
Read Part 2 of this series here:
A Vista vs. Linux Matchup - Part 2: Dual-booting Vista and Linux
In case you missed Part 1, you can find it here:
A Vista vs. Linux matchup -- Part 1: Leveling the Playing Field
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