Running Linux alongside Windows on your machine

It may be convenient for some of us to have proper Linux installed on our machines ( laptops, desktops etc) to perform trivial tasks, such as learning the command line, than reverting to virtualization every time for each trivial task. This can be achieved by having a dual boot option.

In simple terms, dual boot means installing a different operating system on a free space of your hard drive alongside Windows, and that system is going to act completely independently, as opposed to virtualization, where you access a program that behaves like a different operating system ( provides virtual environment). Immediate advantage of having Linux on your machine is that you don't need wifi connection to perform many tasks ( unless you are working with the docker technology). Python comes per-installed with most linux distributions. IPython can be run from linux terminal just as fine as from IPython notebooks with some limitations. Linux repositories contain more advanced IDEs, my favorite is PyCharm for Python, and all are free ( free does not imply bug-free). At a start up time you will have an option which operating system to load.

I have had running Linux alongside Windows 7 for some time in the past without issues, but now I see that with the release of Windows 8 and 10 this task has become more arcane. Nevertheless, there are articles and instructions to follow which allow a non-sophisticated user to achieve just that: two operating systems on one computer and freedom of choice which one to run after pushing the power button.

Disclaimer: these instructions offer guidance on how to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS ( Long Term Support). I personally found Ubuntu to be too heavy for my VAIO laptop , and chose a lighter version: LUbuntu. You can read about it here. Whenever "desktop" is mentioned, in reality it is assumed that the user's hardware is either "laptop" or "desktop."

Thus, if you are interested to experiment and willing to try installing Linux alongside Windows, click:

Here, if you have Windows 8

[Here, if you have Windows 8.1] w81

Here, if you have Windows 7

Here, if you have Windows 10

I hope that you find these articles helpful.