Microsoft Windows remains the dominant desktop operating system with approximately 90% of the client operating system market. If Microsoft's monopoly is ever going to be challenged by Linux, there has to be an easy way for Windows' users to be able to learn about this rival operating system. However, it would be naive to think that a Windows user is going to wipe their Windows partition, write off their years of Windows computing knowledge and install Linux just to see if it has more to offer.
The focus of this article is to evaluate applications which let users run Linux and Windows at the same time on a single Windows machine. The user can therefore become accustomed to Linux, learn all about it, yet retain the familiarity of their Windows environment. This provides a gentle transition to the Linux world. As the user becomes more familiar with the vast range of software available under Linux, he/she may become progressively less dependent on Windows, and come to rely more on the huge range of quality open source applications. One day the user may then take the plunge, run Linux natively, and experience the real power that Linux offers. Utopia.
