So – considering of combining Windows and Linux and thinking what kind of approach would best suit your needs?
Last week I started with VM (Virtual Machine), Dualboot and WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). Now it’s time for the aspiring engineering/developer edition! And I’m still not taking any sides with Linux distributions.
4. Developer tools
There are software solutions avaible for developers that work with both Windows and Linux OS. Crossplatform tools like Firefox, VScode and Git are avaible for free. You can also run a Docker container for getting isolated, consistent environment to run a full desktop or heavy GUI apps.
Developer tools are light and effective and serve well the purpose they are made for. But they do not bend to many other usecases. If you don’t really need the whole other operating system and you have limited hardware resources at your disposal I would recommend you to take a look at software and container options more closely.
5. Remote access to
If you are ready to invest on a separate device to run another OS on remote access I’d say it is a tech savvy, hobbyist, network-engineer-to-be or a hacker choice. Please consider cyber security in you setup if you’re going to leave it powered on and unattended for longer perioids of time – like hosting a linux server on Rasperry Pi. All-in-all, remote access is a rewarding thing to practise.
If you want to connect Windows and Linux you can achieve that with VNC, RDP or SSH. The principle for all of those is the same – install a client to access the OS on another device that has the server installed.
If you’re a student, I’ll save you the effort of googling these:
VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
is a graphical desktop-sharing system that allows you to remotely control another computer’s desktop over a network. It transmits the screen and keyboard/mouse inputs from one machine to another. VNC server software captures the display and sends it to the client.
SSH (Secure Shell)
is a cryptographic network protocol used for secure communication between a client and a server. It allows you to execute commands, transfer files, and access remote systems securely over an untrusted network (like the internet).
Requires SSH on Linux, PuTTY on Windows. On linux SSHD setup is quite straightforward.
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)
is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft that allows users to remotely connect to and control a Windows computer over a network.
On Windows, this is typically the Remote Desktop service (a Windows Pro, Enterprise and Education Editions built-in), which must be enabled on the host machine – the machine that acts like a server and is being accessed to. RDP client can be a Windows, macOS, Linux, or mobile device that has an RDP client installed (e.g., Remote Desktop Connection on Windows, Microsoft Remote Desktop on macOS).
6. Cloud Virtualization
Running OS in the cloud and accessing it via remote desktop and terminal. No need for hardware management. Scalable resources make it a business-feel approach. Cloud virtualization needs a stable network connection. If you’re interested about cloud engineering or development cloud virtualization is a thing to learn about.
AWS(Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are popular platforms that offer cloud-based virtualization possibilities and are used by many companies globally.
Read the previous part 1/2 here: https://jurotar.fi/blog/index.php/2025/09/30/choosing-winux-1-2/
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