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There are many possibilities for running Windows and Linux on the same PC, andLinux provides an exciting new alternative which seems to give the best of both worlds!

There must be many people like me who want to run Linux, see what it’s all about, is it a real viable alternative to Windows for me and how good are the applications. What has put me off is the degree of effort required to set it up and try it when I have to use Windows for my day job, I have 20 years of experience and knowledge so I am comfortable with Windows, I know its strengths and weaknesses, I know what I can do and not do, I know what applications work for me and what they do (and don’t). This is a massive investment of time and memory, the thought of trying to do it all again while exciting, I love the new and unexplored, the thrill of new knowledge, it is all rather overwhelming. There is also the risk of it all going horribly wrong somewhere (Windows manages this quite well on its own at times!). Even with a good backup strategy and recent backups, which you would be very foolish not to employ under any situation, let alone an installation and environment like this. There is a lot of time and effort in checking that everything is there when restoring backups so best avoided if possible.

Up until recently the alternatives to using Linux and Windows at the same time have been:

• Have two separate PC’s one for each system. This has the advantage of completely separating the OS’s and avoiding potential disasters with one system effecting the other or your data..
• You can install both on a single PC and have a dual boot system. This is a rather inelegant and time consuming solution as you have to shut down one system and then boot the other. Also the dangers of corruption of data or one OS by the other greatly increases .
• You can install Virtualization software such as VMWare or VirtualBox and then install Linux in inside. A better solution but the communication between the virtual system and the native PC hardware/system can create issues in being able to create the same experience as a system installed directly to the PC.
• You can use WINE to run Windows applications in a Linux environment. (But I approach this from the view of a Windows user wanting to run Linux)

Now there is a better solution

Quoting from the andLinux.org website:

Introduction

andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows 2000 based systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista; 32-bit versions only). This project was started for Dynamism for the GP2X community, but its userbase far exceeds its original design. andLinux is free and will remain so, but donations are greatly needed.

andLinux uses CoLinux as its core which is confusing for many people. CoLinux is a port of the Linux kernel to Windows. Although this technology is a bit like running Linux in a virtual machine, CoLinux differs itself by being more of a merger of Windows and the Linux kernel and not an emulated PC, making it more efficient. Xming is used as X server and PulseAudio as sound server.

andLinux is not just for development and runs almost all Linux applications without modification.

Visit the andLinux website for more information, including screenshots, FAQ, Downloads and an installation guide. There is also a Forum which appears top be quite active.

There are two versions of andLinux Beta 1 rc6 (02/12/2008) currently available:

• Minimal – XFCE version – 143 MB
• Full – KDE version – 665 MB

The following information is also from andLinux:

Requirements

• OS: Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 / Vista (currently only the 32-bit versions are supported)
• Memory: at least 128 MB (192 MB or more is recommended)
  Note that you should have enough memory left for Windows (at least 128 MB for Windows 2000 / XP / 2003; at least 512 MB for Windows Vista)!
• Hard disk space: 2.5 GB (XFCE version) / 4.5 GB (KDE version)
  Note that you need an NTFS file system (which is default since Windows 2000) because you can’t create files larger than 2 GB on FAT(32) file systems!
• A good internet connection (to be able to install further applications via apt-get / Synaptic)
• Some basic Linux skills to proceed once andLinux is installed

What you will get

You will get:

• a fully functional Linux system, however without the usual desktop (you’ve already got one from Windows)
• a second panel (e.g. at the top of your Windows desktop) or a second start menu (in the system tray next to the clock), from which you can start Linux applications
• Linux applications and Windows applications can be used simultaneously and you can cut and paste text between them
• apt / Synaptic to install further applications

You will NOT get:

• another desktop
• the bench of applications that usually ship with Linux distributions (you have to fetch whatever you want)
• a printer driver
• trouble with further drivers

Security warning: It is recommended to use andLinux only on single-user-PCs or in a trustworthy environment because the communication with the X-Server and the launcher is not secured, i.e., every user who can login to Windows can access andLinux.

andLinux has me excited about giving it a try so that I have an easy way to dip in and out of the Linux experience quickly and easily. I will be posting a review of how this goes in the near future.

Another useful resource is this post on Lifehacker Seamlessly Run Linux…… . This gives a brief background to Linux and then lots of information and screenshots on installing andLinux..

Technorati Tags: Freeware, Linux, News, Operating System, Windows, Windows XP, Virualization, VMWare, VirualBox

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