Don't Dual Boot in Windows 7!

If you're a busy developer, you often need to work with beta versions of products; hopefully, you've realized that installing beta versions on your everyday installation of Windows is an exercise in frustration. Many developers (including me) have used the dual boot technique, which requires a lot of effort to set up the multiple partitions on the hard drive. I've tried, over and over, to be happy developing in a virtual machine, but it always feels just a little too slow for comfort.

Using Windows 7, you have an alternate choice. You can create a virtual disk (a VHD file) containing a full Windows installation, and you can boot from the VHD--you get the benefit of multiple partitions, without the hassles of fiddling with hardware! Blogger extraordinaire Scott Hanselman has documented it all on his blog, here: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/LessVirtualMoreMachineWindows7AndTheMagicOfBootToVHD.aspx. I fully intend to use this technique, once I get a day free to install the RTM version of Windows 7 (now available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers for download).

Give it a try--it seems like a great way to get the benefit of dual booting without the hassles!