Overview
Multi-booting is the process of installing and using multiple operating systems (OS) on one machine that can be chosen at startup.[1] The core concept of multi-booting revolves around partitioning a computer's storage device, whether it be a HDD, SSD (sda/nvme), or eMMC. Each operating system requires its own partition, effectively creating independent spaces within the same physical drive. This separation allows users to keep multiple systems isolated from one another, ensuring that one operating system's configuration or files do not interfere with another. For systems with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), an additional EFI System Partition (ESP) is required to store bootloaders and related files.
Multi-booting has many uses,[2] including:
- Testing different operating systems[3]
- Utilizing software that may not work as expected on another OS[4]
- Deploying and testing software on different operating systems
Dual-booting is a popular multi-boot configuration that includes two operating systems, most commonly a Linux distribution and Microsoft Windows.
Multi-booting vs. Virtual Machines (VMs)
While virtual machines and multi-booting can be used for the same purposes, each has their own distinctions. Virtual machines are installed inside a host operating system and can be run side-by-side as long as the host machine's resources are sufficient. Multi-booting does not allow running each operating system simultaneously. it provides however the booted OS with full access to the machine's components, rather than needing to go through translation and compatibility layers as a virtual machine, which often increases performance significantly.
Common Uses for Multi-booting
Gaming
While gaming is relatively straightforward and accessible on Linux, some games are still incompatible. One notorious cause of this, especially in online competitive multiplayer games, is kernel-level anti-cheat (such as Riot's Vanguard anti-cheat). Many of the popular kernel-level anti-cheats do not work on Linux. Because of this, dual-booting Linux and Windows is a popular choice for those that play games with such kernel-level anti-cheats.
References
- ↑ "OS/2 commands by name", OS/2 command reference (First ed.), IBM, 1999, "Switches between the DOS and OS/2 operating systems that are on the same hard disk (drive C)."
- ↑ Dual and Multi boot systems, Linux.org, Linux For All
- ↑ Booting Problem Of Linux in Windows Boot Loader, Tom's Hardware Forum, tom's HARDWARE.
- ↑ What is Dual Boot & How to Dual Boot Windows and Linux?, Lenovo US, Smarter Technology For All.