I’ve heard that there used to be issues with dual booting Windows and Linux, especially after a Windows update made things complicated. I’m primarily using Linux Mint and I’m considering dual booting with Windows to run some applications that aren’t working well on Linux. I’ll be using a separate SSD for the Windows installation. Is that a good idea? Should I go for Windows 11 or stick with Windows 10?
2 Answers
You should be just fine installing Windows and Linux on separate drives. Just make sure to only have one drive connected when installing each OS. That way, they won’t interfere with each other! Also, I’ve heard that the EFI partition can get a bit cramped, so it’s best to be careful about that.
Having Windows on its own drive is definitely a better setup! It can minimize the chances of updates messing with your boot loader like GRUB. I would also recommend using a tool like rEFInd for a smoother experience. And yes, definitely go with Windows 11 since Windows 10 will go end-of-life soon!
How big does the EFI partition even need to be for Windows? I know GRUB takes about 2.7MiB, but there must be an optimal size for both. I’ve seen conflicting info about this online!