Is dual-booting Windows and Linux a good way to get started?

Dual-booting can work well, especially if you give Linux its own partition or, even better, a separate drive. You can keep Windows for everyday use and switch to Linux when you want to practice or work on projects. Just make sure important files are backed up before changing partitions.

I’d avoid dual-booting at first if you’re not comfortable managing partitions and boot settings. A virtual machine gives you a safer place to experiment, although it won’t perform as well as Linux installed directly on the computer.

For a complete beginner, I’d start with a virtual machine or a bootable USB. A Ventoy drive is useful for trying several distributions, and a persistent USB lets you spend more time with one without touching your Windows installation. Once you’re comfortable, you can decide whether dual-booting is worth it.

If you’re programming or doing anything Linux-specific, having a dedicated Linux partition is convenient. A setup with around 200 GB for Linux is plenty for many users, while Windows can remain your daily system until you’re ready to switch more permanently.

Dual-booting on one shared drive is possible, and many installers can resize the Windows partition and configure the boot process automatically. Still, partition changes carry some risk, so make a full backup first. If you want the least complicated setup, using a separate drive is generally easier to recover and maintain.