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Easy Dual Boot Method to Give Family Offramp from Windows
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
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Is it really that annoying when a launch screen like rEFInd or Clover pops up with graphical logos of Windows or X distro? How is that any different than them picking an account to use over someone else's? The GUI experience is the same to me.
Is autobooting rEFInd or Clover not possible?
Wouldn't a restart a booting into rEFInd or Clover fix this? Maybe my understanding of the IT support world is wrong, but I would think that restarting a computer to fix issues isn't too far from the average user's troubleshooting skills.
Seems like this disdain is coming from personal experience. Have you tried dual booting recently? Is it really as annoying as you think? Asking the Linux pros here because I don't know.
Have you used GUI boot managers like rEFInd or Clover?
What other options have you tried? I'm looking for a flavor that's the easiest and simplest for a noob to use.
I believe if you install Windows first then Linux after, you won't have the issue of Windows overwriting your boot sequence. I could be wrong though. My thinking was to set the GUI boot manager as the primary boot, and from there they can pick the OS they want.
Only issue I foresee with this is Windows updates fucking shit up.
Good to know! Actual first or second good piece of advice to my post that doesn't involve people telling me to shut the fuck up.
It'd probably be Mint, Ubuntu, or Fedora. But yeah good advice! Can you imagine giving a noob Arch haha
I'm taking the train to go help my sister set up her OG Chromecast today.
Safe to say I'm used to it :)
I was using X and Y to refer to Windows/Linux.
I do currently dual boot, using UEFI + grub2 (and also macos bootloader+asahi linux), and yes, it definitely is a personal disdain. The various bootloaders themselves don't really change the experience that much its that you have to choose your OS during the boot process that cause the UX friction.
It may be the same as a user login screen, but it doesn't take the place of one. So you press the on button -> wait a bit -> choose your OS -> wait a bit more -> choose your user -> wait a bit more. That extra step in there just really gets on your nerves, especially if you just want to turn on the PC and get on with something. If there was a way to set the boot choice before pressing the on button (like a physical toggle switch or something), that would be slightly better, but afaik, that doesn't exist.
I'm not telling you to shut up, but I would suggest caution, it only takes one bad experience to irreparably damage your families opinion of linux, sometimes its better to let them come to you when their ready. But USB to demo the experience is definitely a good way to go about it. But when they are ready, I'd go all in on the distro of choice and spend some time with them to iron out all the issues. A little hand holding early on will save you a lot of headache later.