[Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

Roel Schroeven roel at roelschroeven.net
Wed Jun 29 15:31:04 EDT 2016


boB Stepp schreef op 2016-06-29 01:16:
> On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 10:48 PM, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
>> What about running Win7 in a virtual machine?
> 
> What type of performance hit will I take when running CPU intensive
> processes?

Purely CPU-wise, the performance hit is pretty small (normal 
instructions are executed directly on the CPU at full speed; only 
privileged instructions are trapped for special treatment). But:
- I/O is slower in a virtual machine.
- RAM is divided between your virtual machine(s) and the host, so each 
machine has less available for itself.
- Graphics are slower. Regular desktop use is fine if the proper drivers 
are installed in the virtual machine, but don't expect to run the newest 
games smoothly.

In many use cases, virtual machines are perfectly usable; it all depends 
on your specific use case and your hardware.

-- 
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge
faster than society gathers wisdom.
   -- Isaac Asimov

Roel Schroeven



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