When installing two different OS, it is very convenient to be able to have the same settings, the same data and to switch between the two OS without problems. Here are some tricks to switch easily between Windows and Linux.

Installation

Making good partitions is a crucial step that will make your system easy to use.You have to think about it twice before, else you probably will have to do it again.

To switch easily from one OS to another OS, the first rule is to clearly pull datas off from program files. The best manner is to create separate partitions, and then, changes the predefined paths to this partitions (XSetup can change the My Documents, Application Data, Favorites paths to what you want).

I advise this kind of partitions :

  • Linux Boot Partition (to avoid the 1024 cylinder problem on old systems)
  • Windows Partition : store only program files on this partition. This can be FAT32
  • Data Partition : store all your documents here. FAT16 is the best choice for the moment, as the Linux FAT32 support do not work always very well.
  • Other data partition (FAT32), for documents, or files
  • Linux Partition
  • Linux Swap Partition

Programs

Two programs run under Linux and Windows, and offer great performances under both systems. This is very helpful, because you can edit your data either under Linux or Windows without any change to do :

  • Netscape Communicator : The Browser and Mail client
  • StarOffice 5.2 : a powerful office suite that is able to replace Microsoft Office in most cases. This suite is free for home.