It seems that articles that cover running Linux in windows are becoming more and more popular. I wrote one a few days ago (with vmwareplayer) and would like to introduce another method of achieving this.
Like the last time Linux will be embedded inside windows which has some advantages but also some disadvantages. Many people don´t like the idea of installing a second operating system, messing with their partitions and bootconfig and probably having to setup their first OS again because of errors they made. A Linux run in windows does not have this difficulties, its simply load and run like all other windows programs.
Users can get a feel for Linux without having to mess with it. The difference to a Linux live CD is that you have a writable Linux instead of a CD which is not writable at all.
To get things started you need to download a copy of damn small linux
and extract it to your hard drive once its downloaded. Make sure you download the dsl-embedded.zip file which is located in the current folder of every mirror.
Please note that you download an ISO file, you have the option to mount it using daemon tools for instance or use Winrar to do so.
Locate a file called dsl-windows.bat in the main dir and start it. Linux should load up and you are ready to use it.
Related Articles:
Read Linux Files in WindowsFrom Dos/Windows to Linux Howto
Download Linux From Your Desktop With Get Linux
Why Every Windows User Needs a Linux Live CD
Linux Live CD for Windows Users
Thank you for the info on linux in windows – I found dsl (damn small limux) to be reallly convenient.It is a great (and easy) way to start for people not familiar with Linux – a click of a button is all the is actually needed to start it.
If you are looking for a full on Linux distribution I’d recommend: http://www.topologilinux.com/ combined with http://freenx.berlios.de/ & http://www.nomachine.com/. They work very well for Windows “only” PCs.