What's the best way of running a Linux distro transparently on top of Windows?

Question

I'm having an issue I'm sure lots of people have. I LOVE Unix and I'm indifferent about Windows. I would love to be on Unix all the time, but as an avid gamer I find myself forced to use Windows. But luckily I don't need a lot of juice in my Linux environment (mainly it will involve watching videos and programming), so I'm thinking it could work to run Linux virtually in top of Windows in some kind of virtualization software like VirtualBox or VMWare. But the thing is: I want Linux to be running transparently on top of Windows, preferably so it feels like my PC was booted into Linux. This means:

• Linux should be running on all my monitors (currently just 2) seamlessly
• The emulated graphics "hardware" should be sufficient to run graphically pleasing user interfaces, including the 3D effects of compiz etc.
• The Linux environment should have access to my physical hardware such as DVD ROM and external harddrive

I'm looking mainly for a free solution to this, but I also want to hear about any proprietary solutions as I would spend money on this. I'll also accept answers saying that this is impossible, if it in fact is.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I use VMWARE Workstation for this kind of Virtualization (what you are talking about is Virtualisation, not Emulation).

As far as I'm aware it allows you to use multiple monitors in fullscreen mode, and definately allows you to assign an amount of your 3D memory dedicated to the VM.

It will also have access to all your physical resources - USB, DVD, Network, Sound etc... I know its not free, but VMWare player is, and has the same kind of functionality.

Answer 2

Use virtual box. I personally use portable edition. Here is a link that will give you an insight on how this is achievable.

• https://askubuntu.com/questions/10519/how-can-i-get-compiz-to-work-in-a-virtualbox-vm

Oracle VirtualBox - http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.18/VirtualBox-4.3.18-96516-Win.exe
Runar Buvik Vbox Portable - http://files.vbox.me/files/Portable-VirtualBox_v4.3.6-Starter_v6.4.9-Win_all.exe

Download files

wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.18/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.3.18-96516.vbox-extpack
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.18/VirtualBox-4.3.18-96516-Linux_x86.run
wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.3.18/VBoxGuestAdditions_4.3.18.iso

Install extension pack

VBoxManage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.3.18-96516.vbox-extpack)

Create VM:

VBoxManage createvm --name "Your VM Name" --ostype Linux26_64 --register

Add 2048 GB of RAM, Boot from DVD and nic1 in bridge mode

VBoxManage modifyvm "Your VM Name" --memory 2048 --acpi on --boot1 dvd --nic1 bridged

Defining VBox bridge adapter. Use "VBoxManage list bridgedifs" to get yours

VBoxManage modifyvm "Your VM Name" --nic1 bridged --nictype1 82540EM --bridgeadapter1 "YOUR ADAPTER NAME"

Adding storage controller.

VBoxManage storagectl "Your VM Name" --name "IDE Controller" --add ide --controller PIIX4
VBoxManage storageattach "Your VM Name" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 0 --type dvddrive --medium PATH-TO-FILE.iso

Add 20 GB disk drive

VBoxManage createhd --format VDI --filename YOUR-PATH.vdi --size 20480

Add physical dvd drive D:

VBoxManage storageattach "Your VM Name" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 1 --device 0 --type dvddrive --medium host:D:

Add physical drive 2:

VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename "YOUR-PATH.vmdk" -rawdisk \\.\PhysicalDrive2

Here are two different approaches to start vbox. Headless and seamless that's what you want.

Headless:

VBoxHeadless --startvm "Your VM Name"
REM Define VRDE port for remote connection
VBoxManage modifyvm "Your VM Name" --vrdeport 4000 --vrde on

Seamless:

REM Start machine seamless
VBoxManage setextradata "Your VM Name" GUI/Seamless on
VBoxManage startvm "Your VM Name" -type gui

After booting, mount guest additions, and install all 3 packages that start with virtualbox-ose-guest- . Reboot and you are done.

Answer 3

I've done exactly that a couple of years ago. There's a project called Cooperative Linux (or coLinux in short). It basically runs your favourite Linux distro in a virtual machine, but integrates it seamlesly with Windows.

coLinux might be a bit hard to set up. That's why andLinux exists. It's coLinux, but preconfigured.

Result:
http://andlinux.sf.net/screenshots/screenshot.png

Edit

Sorry, apparently what I said above wasn't entirely correct.

andLinux uses coLinux as its core which is confusing for many people. coLinux is a port of the Linux kernel to Windows. Although this technology is a bit like running Linux in a virtual machine, coLinux differs itself by being more of a merger of Windows and the Linux kernel and not an emulated PC, making it more efficient. Xming is used as X server and PulseAudio as sound server.

Answer 4

Use virtualbox and enable seamless mode. The linux applications will appear like normal windows on windows. You can use sharing to fix the hard disk issue. Otherwise you can try running with multiple monitors and fullscreen mode, also using vbox sharing for the disks.