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Trying out virtualization on my new ThinkPad

Got my new T42p a couple of days ago. After playing around with it for a while (1600×1200 resolution rocks!), now comes the fun part: Installing Linux. After checking up on what’s hot in the market I decided on Ubuntu. So now the question is what configuration to use: dual boot or virtualization?

I’ve been playing the Windows/Linux dual-boot game for years now and I’ve grown rather tired of stuff like booting back into Windows every time I want to access my bank account (yes, they only support IE…). So this time I tried to install Linux in VMWare in Windows. This has many advantages. Obviously the ability to work simultaneously on both machines is great. But it also means dead-simple backup of the Linux machine, and the ability to migrate that same VM to new computers in the future without having to reinstall anything.

I therefore installed Ubuntu 6.06 as a VM in Windows. The installation was a breeze and everything worked out of the box. It was the easiest OS installation I ever performed (including Windows installations). But then I started working with the thing and it became obvious that it wouldn’t last: It just wasn’t fast enough. Everything from switching tabs in Firefox to hitting backspace in a terminal and watching it go felt sluggish. Installing VMWare Tools didn’t help either. So, sadly, I gave up on desktop virtualization for now. I guess it’s back to dual-boot land…