More Than 3 Out of 4 Enthusiasts Reject Windows 8

King Arthur said:

Indianatone said:

I now quad boot with 3 versions of Windows 7 (don't ask I am a Geek) and Linux Mint Mate 14. I used Easy BCD and added the Linux auto find : Entry #4
Name: Linux Mint x64
BCD ID: {978289f0-cddf-11e1-8c60-e1dec16559df}
Drive: N:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\AutoNeoGrub0.mbr
Works a treat, no need to screw up my Windows 7 bootloaders with the other three OS's. I have my monitor calibrated for correct greys and colours on 7 but I am now on a mission to copy that information from Windows to Linux but that is not happening yet. Wish Mint had a calibration Utility like 7 does, would be very handy. Still I only have to 2020 to get it sorted and by then we'll be on Mint 18 or so :) M$ need to wake up and smell something other than Windows 8 as this has desktop culling has got me looking to a new OS for the future.

Pardon my curiosity, but are you booting into Bootmgr (Windows Boot Manager) and then chainloading into (I assume) GRUB which then loads Linux? I've been looking at dual booting Windows 7 Pro and Linux Mint 14 KDE on my laptop while keeping Windows as the "master" of the computer.

Yes that is exactly what I am doing. I am familier with Easy BCD and it ment no pain, lost boots, recovery repairs and so on. I have three other OS on there one of which is for Virtual Machines so is kind of leaner than the other 2. Easy BCD alows you to back up the old config and also the new one. Well recommended tool.

whs said:

Tony,

Re calibration: Did you check ou those links.

GNOME Color Manager

Calibrate your monitor | Ubuntu Field Manual

Screen Calibration on Ubuntu 12.04 with Spyder2 [workaround] | *n*x

I look into it, thanks Wolfgang.

King Arthur said:

I just wanted to know how easy it is in practice to have Windows and Bootmgr be the "master" of the system and chainloading into GRUB as appropriate.

Its straightforward using EasyBCD, just a few simple steps - its covered in PART D of the tutorial.

King Arthur said:

I've already tried Linux Mint 14 KDE (as well as a number of other distros) in a VirtualBox VM, which is why I'm confident in dualbooting my laptop with Windows 7 + Linux Mint 14 KDE. I just wanted to know how easy it is in practice to have Windows and Bootmgr be the "master" of the system and chainloading into GRUB as appropriate. As I still prefer Windows 7 and XP by far compared to Linux, having Windows as the master of the system just feels more reassuring; I realize the practical benefits of such a setup are nil otherwise.

It's easy enough to set GRUB to default boot Windows via the Windows bootloader (using a timeout).
You need to edit one text file.

I have XP, W7 and Linux Mint 14 MATE on my PC (I don't have the System Reserved partition).
My PC loads GRUB and if I don't select anything (after timeout), it then loads the Windows 7 boot menu, which loads W7 (after timeout).

I think that with your proposed setup, if the Windows bootloader "goes belly up" you won't be able to load Linux either (to fix Windows).
With the GRUB setup, I can still load Linux if Windows has died (obviously if GRUB "goes belly up" I can't load anything).

Greg, we have to prepare for the future, LOL.

Indianatone said:

There is always React OS
ReactOS Project
Just need a billionaire to pump some cash into it and then we have a choice.

I've been waiting half a decade for that one to mature from VM.
What I've seen though looks good.

gregrocker said:

In the space of one busy thread we changed into a Linux forum.

Nyuk,Nyuk,Nyuk, as a famous bald guy once said.