No, it's not possible to change operating systems without rebooting.
No, it's not possible to change operating systems without rebooting.
I develop as an indie creator and my primary tool isn't compatible with Linux well, so I used a 240gb SSD to run my projects. I wondered if it's possible to change OS without a full restart or using GRUB, or if rebooting is necessary. If needed, could I set up a one-button switch between Windows and Linux? On KDE Arch Linux I was able to go directly from Windows to Linux with a single click, then back again. If this isn't available, that's okay—I just wanted to check. VM solutions aren't suitable because they're too slow for game development, even with GPU passes, mainly due to the extra overhead from the VirtIO interface.
Well, there's the Windows subsystem for Linux, but that's kind of VM-ish. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about As far as I'm aware, no you can't run two OSes in parallel on one machine without some kind of hypervisor.
You can configure GRUB to boot into Windows using a bash script. Set it to run silently on the next startup so you don’t see a prompt.
You didn't experience performance even with the KVM "magic" feature, making it too slow for your game development setup.
It seems you're questioning whether your approach might be flawed. The toughest challenge in game development is likely game testing, especially since AAA titles run smoothly on KVM. If people can handle them well, why would your indie project differ? Probably not.
Sure, I can help with that. Enjoy the experience of dual booting!