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#1 2013-03-07 20:44:24

tlawren
Member
From: Colorado, US
Registered: 2009-04-06
Posts: 80

[SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

I'm about to setup a new machine and I am in need of some advice on whether to dual-boot or run a virtual box.  Arch Linux is my primary OS, but I need Windows 7 (64-bit) for certain development work.  Specifically, the tools I use are Visual Studio Express 10/11 and NI LabVIEW, and I almost always run them both at the same time.  Would this type of situation be better suited for a dual-boot setup or could I run it in VirtualBox?  I haven't done a lot of work with virtual machines, so I'm not sure of how they typically perform.  I mostly care about seamless performance and I honestly don't mind rebooting between the OSes, but if I cat get seamless performance using VirtualBox, then why not go that route.  Also, not having to setup up the dual-boot is a plus. 

The hardware of this machine includes:  8 gigs of ram, AMD FX 8350, 128 GB SSD, and a 1 GB Radeon 4670 graphics card. 

I know this question has been touched on in other posts, but most of the posts I've seen are more than a year or two old. Given advances in hardware, I'm interested in a current advice.

Last edited by tlawren (2013-03-11 16:22:53)

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#2 2013-03-10 04:53:32

slytux
Member
From: New York
Registered: 2010-09-25
Posts: 129

Re: [SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

I recommend Virtualbox (with optional extensions pack) running the windows VMs. You can set up a filesystem share that you can access in windows and copy and paste between them.  I like to keep Windows without access to any physical hardware. SecureBoot (_!_)

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#3 2013-03-10 07:02:26

tdy
Member
From: Sacremende
Registered: 2008-12-14
Posts: 440

Re: [SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

The first step is to actually try the VM to see if you'll have any issues detecting DAQ cards (or whatever else you're using).

I'm not sure what you mean by "seamless performance." It'll definitely be slower inside the VM, but it should still be usable given that hardware. I use an Arch VM on Win7 as well as a Win7 VM on Arch with some similar hardware specs.

Last edited by tdy (2013-03-10 07:12:25)

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#4 2013-03-10 13:36:00

nomorewindows
Member
Registered: 2010-04-03
Posts: 3,362

Re: [SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

tdy wrote:

The first step is to actually try the VM to see if you'll have any issues detecting DAQ cards (or whatever else you're using).

I'm not sure what you mean by "seamless performance." It'll definitely be slower inside the VM, but it should still be usable given that hardware. I use an Arch VM on Win7 as well as a Win7 VM on Arch with some similar hardware specs.

Seamless speeds it back up, by using VirtualBox devices to communicate with VirtualBox VM instead of emulating a device.


I may have to CONSOLE you about your usage of ridiculously easy graphical interfaces...
Look ma, no mouse.

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#5 2013-03-11 12:43:50

dna
Member
Registered: 2011-10-26
Posts: 6

Re: [SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

Hi,

I have a similar setup for my work. My hardware is : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3667U CPU @ 2.00GHz, 16GB of ram, 256GB SSD SED. I run a Windows 8 VM inside Virtualbox with the guest addition + extension pack and use VS 2012 Pro on daily basis.
My VM is configured to have only 1 CPU with a 100% execution cap and 4GB of ram. Thing run just perfectly like this, fluent and eye candy. Depending on my need I increase the number of CPU or tweak the execution cap.

Cheers

Edit:
Sadly modifying the VM CPU number must be done offline. However the execution cap can be tweaked online.

Last edited by dna (2013-03-11 12:46:04)

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#6 2013-03-11 16:10:22

tdy
Member
From: Sacremende
Registered: 2008-12-14
Posts: 440

Re: [SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

nomorewindows wrote:

Seamless speeds it back up, by using VirtualBox devices to communicate with VirtualBox VM instead of emulating a device.

Oh.. I always thought vbox seamless mode was just cosmetic integration.

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#7 2013-03-11 16:25:03

tlawren
Member
From: Colorado, US
Registered: 2009-04-06
Posts: 80

Re: [SOLVED] virtual machine or dual-boot for development

I'm changing this post to solved, because it is kind of no longer an issue.  I am currently forced to run Windows natively, because I can't get Arch installed on my new build.  I just went ahead and installed Windows on a blank partition, so I could get some system up and running.

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