I am looking to run Windows 10 and some Linux distro (Ubuntu, Manjaro, I don't really know yet; that is a different discussion, though) side by side and I was wondering if anyone was familiar with the dual boot function in Windows 10. I have only used the dual boot function in Win7, has it been simplified, complicated, unchanged? Every time I tried to dual boot I would always have to do it a bunch of times before it actually worked (It was never a complicated problem, I usually just forgot a step in the process) and I don't want to end up doing that in Win10, I want to be prepared. Any advice would be much appreciated.
With most of the modern Ubuntu based releases it is really easy. You just have to tell windows that the grub file exists. You can do this with one simple cmd command. Bcdedit {bootmgr} /EFI/Ubuntu/grubx64.efi
That command was off the top of my head as I am at work. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Edit: am I running a duel boot with windows 10 and mint 17.2, works like a dream.
If you install windows first, the installer for the linux distro might detect the windows install and configure the dual boot automatically. That's what happened for me when I installed opensuse.
I'm guessing you want to make a bootable drive first, install ubuntu in duel boot partition setup and then jump to windows and enter the command.
If you need help on making a bootable drive and completing your ubuntu installation, there is a heap of great guides around. Or you can use the official ubuntu wiki guide found here
That's what I initially thought, but I wasn't sure if the command you posted still required that there be a bootable drive in order to function. Thanks for the clarification.
On a side note (the Linux side, that is), I was browsing the Linux forum and it's my understanding that I can run multiple environments with the same OS. And at the log-in screen (I believe) I can choose which environment to use. Is that correct?
I realize now that this thread may have been better labelled as just a general OS topic... But oh well...
yeah, you can mix and match quite a large amount of desktop environments and even just use CLI if you are feeling brave. When beginning though it is definitely wise to stick to the common ones because of the abundance of support for them.
I found this quick run down of a few of the popular ones, so give it a browse if you want! Link
Well you can always use two different drives. In fact i hate to waste the time effort dual booting like that when it is far easier just to grab a cheap 64g ssd and call it good. Life made simple. :)
Hmmm... I just ordered an external hdd in preparation for Win10 (I want to do a clean install, wipe my drives, but I want to save my Steam games and important documents). Perhaps when the drive has served its purpose I can partition it into a few sections and install several different Linux OS's. And since the drive is portable, I would think I could plug it in to numerous computers and use @gerkinyagerkin's command to tell windows that it has several bootable drives. Would I be correct in thinking this?
Right now I am using a desktop, so no worries. But I will be going to college next year and figure i could benefit from having added portable storage for a laptop and/or for use as multiple bootable environments on said laptop.
When dual booting, I usually either let it boot to windows or go into bios and pick my linux drive to boot from. I will have to try that idea myself to see how well that works.