Hey everyone! I'm thinking about dual booting Windows 11 and Linux Mint on my single drive. I've read that it's generally okay as long as I partition the drive properly. I recently tried Linux Mint on my laptop and loved how much faster it was compared to Windows 10. But, I'm not super tech-savvy, so I'm hoping to get some advice before I dive in. Here are my main questions: 1. Is it safe to store both OSs on the same drive if it's partitioned? 2. How does NTFS and exFAT work on Linux Mint? Can I access my files from both OSs easily? 3. If I install applications, will I be able to use them from both systems? 4. Can I customize Linux Mint like other Linux distros? 5. Should I create separate partitions for games if I want to use Steam? 6. What's the deal with NVIDIA GPU support on Linux? 7. Is VR support an issue on Linux? 8. Do I need Proton for multiplayer games? 9. How do partitions work—will they be seen as separate drives in Windows? 10. And, is there a task manager equivalent for Linux Mint? Any tips or insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
1 Answer
1. You're fine to dual boot, but just be cautious—Windows updates have been known to break Linux booting if not done right. 2. NTFS works well with Linux; you can even play games stored on NTFS drives. 3. Programs installed on Linux stay separate—Linux manages installations differently, so you can't access Windows apps directly. 4. Totally! You can customize Mint, but some other distros might offer easier tools to do so. 5. For Steam, you should be able to access your games without reinstalling, just point Steam to your game folder. 6. NVIDIA can work on Linux, especially with recent drivers. Mint helps install these automatically, so you shouldn't have too many issues. 7. VR on Linux can be hit or miss, depending on the game. 8. Proton helps with many games, but not all need it for multiplayer. You can enable Proton through Steam settings. 9. Think of partitions like rooms—you won't see them as separate drives in Windows, but they serve specific purposes. 10. Yes, Linux Mint has a 'System Monitor' for managing tasks!
Thanks for the breakdown! I'm curious about how to actually set those partitions. Do I need specific software for that?