Is it possible to have a computer run two OS's in memory at the same time?

Posted by Hebon on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Hebon
Published on 2013-11-05T02:43:26Z Indexed on 2013/11/05 4:00 UTC
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I'm sick of needing to reboot my computer every time I wish to use another OS, or run a virtual machine that skimps on power. With the onset of large amounts of memory for computers nowadays I began to think that there must be some way to run two OS's in memory with a way to switch between the two. In my mind, it doesn't seem too difficult;

  • a compatibility layer boots up after bios, which in turn boots to OS1. While in OS1, software is run that triggers a save to ram boots back to the compatability layer, and then boots to OS2. This way, the OS's can be used side by side and boot times are cut drastically short since both OSs are already in ram.

Both OS's have their own designated and protected memory so there is no problem there... I mean, it seems fine, but no one has done it, so there must be some reason as to why. I would love some insight into this please.

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