Is dual-booting Windows and Linux still worth it in 2026?

The main question is how much storage you have and how often you’ll need to switch systems. If the SSD is large enough, splitting it between Windows and Linux usually works fine. Give Windows only as much space as your required games and applications need, then use the rest for Linux. Just remember that switching operating systems means rebooting, so it can become inconvenient if you constantly move between them.

Before committing, you could test CachyOS from a bootable USB or in a virtual machine. That lets you check whether your hardware works and get familiar with Linux without touching the internal drive. If you mainly need Windows for one or two anti-cheat games, another option is to keep Windows minimal and give most of the disk space to Linux.

Separate drives are preferable because operating-system updates and bootloader changes are less likely to interfere with each other, but they aren’t required. Plenty of people run Windows and Linux from different partitions on the same disk. Be careful when resizing partitions, keep backups of anything important, and expect to configure settings such as UEFI or Secure Boot depending on your hardware and distribution.

Whether it’s worth it depends on your habits. Dual-booting is a solid compromise when Linux handles most of your daily use but Windows is still needed for certain games. If you rarely use Windows, it may be less hassle to run it occasionally in a virtual machine, although virtual machines generally aren’t ideal for games that need strict anti-cheat support.

Yes, dual-booting makes sense if you have a real reason to keep Windows, such as games with anti-cheat systems that don’t work properly on Linux. Using one SSD is perfectly possible; a second drive is just safer and more convenient if you can get one later. Install Windows first, leave unallocated space for Linux, and then install Linux into that space. Make a backup before changing partitions.