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If you have a PC, install some kind of Unix System (e.g. Ubuntu) and dual-boot. Virtual Machines work as well, but can be quite a pain. Depending on what you are trying to do you may run into compatibility or performance issues. IMO dual-boot is the better solution.</p>
<p>Or get a Mac, since you were asking in your first post.</p>
<p>VirtualBox runs Ubuntu fine. A lot of classes are using VirtualBox VMs as opposed to SSHing into the school servers now for reliability reasons. You still have to SSH to turn in your source files but most coding is done through VM.</p>
<p>So… can you guys like describe the advantages of Macs in terms of Linux? Is there a significant difference?</p>
<p>F— it. Triple boot.
Hahaha.</p>
<p>Look, you would be perfectly fine with solely using Windows all four years. It’s just that it’s <em>useful</em> to learn Linux. Likewise, you would be fine with just having a Mac and Linux. Instead of trying to optimize your outcome as a function of “what applications can I run,” you really ought to optimize your outcome as a function of which OS you work more productively in and are most used to.</p>
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Mac OS X is Unix-based, it’ll give you exactly the same capabilities Ubuntu or any other Linux system will give you.</p>
<p>Virtual machines do have an advantage over dual boot in that you can be using applications on both OSes at the same time, instead of having to reboot to use an application on the other OS.</p>
<p>Ubuntu also has such a small footprint that the performance hit from using a VM is negligible. In fact, there are still some compatibility issues with using Ubuntu as a standalone OS. Some hardware, especially wireless cards using N bands and dualbands will not work correctly. VMs circumvent that by simulating hardware that is fully supported by the OS.</p>