I am going to dual my computer with Windows XP and Fedora my reasoning is to keep Windows for all my Gaming needs, media, music, ect. And to install Fedora for all programming and work related needs. Like scripting, setting up a test server, programming, doing work related stuff, and just learning how to use Linux just in case I need it for a job.

1. Would that be a smart thing to do or should I just dump it all on Windows XP and stick with that?
2. Linux is great for that since so much stuff is GNU freeware. Much less financial risk.
3. If your aim is to learn more about Linux, then I would suggest trying out Gentoo Linux. This will give you a much lower level introduction to a Linux system, which is likely to stand you in good stead if you need to use Linux in anger later on.

   You should bear in mind that you will need to be prepared to put the effort in as Linux has a high learning curve.

4. If you have some extra money, get a VMWare Workstation ($180?). It makes a virtual machine and you can install any OS you want on that machine. You can switch back and forth at will between your native OS and the virtual machine's OS.

   I run Windows as native, create a virtual machine that run old Red Hat 8, and create another that runs Fedora.

5. Cygwin will let you do limited GCC supported development in windows.

   But Linux supports so many different languages and systems. You best learn it if you plan on any academic research path. Its data structure is a work of art, and the kernel will teach you more about the hardware.

   Mono for the Linux OS is a FREE .NET compatible code developer base that ports to windows with little effort.

   Knoppix is a live CD that has the GCC too.

6. I used to do dual boots, triple boots, and even quad boots to play with all the different flavors of linux. As computers became faster, I began to play with Vmware's free Vmplayer. This program is free and very easy to use. You can also get premade virtual machines from links on there site. The power of todays cpu allows you to run linux in a virtual machine on top of your windows xp without significant lag. Besides, most of the fun with linux happens at the command line. You could set up linux in a VM and do telnet or ssh from windows. The VM also has its own IP address so you can open a port on your router to point to it. You can also play around with the GUI in the linux environment. Only install linux on a different partition if you want to learn how to install linux on a different partition.
7. linux is a good programming environment.

   as to dual-booting … I've done it for years but to tell you the truth it hasnt provided that much more benefit than having an extra dedicated box with linux installed. the laptop just has provided convenience to be able to access both without using telnet, cygwin, or the like.

   if you dont want to go with a 2nd box you might consider vmware or another virtual machine prog so you can just toggle between the 2.

   I recommend a 2nd box …they are dirt cheap these days [or a 2nd laptop in my case where the video driver hardware carpped out in an older one so it has become fedora core 6 in all its ever lovin glory lol]

   windows dev work can still be … well financially rewarding doing it for a living but since some parts of the source are still locked down by M$ it's also a boring drudge that pays the bills

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