Is there a way to Live boot/Hot swapping OS's?

[borg101]

I just started looking into the ability to execute a program or shortcut and have it boot into the appropriate operating system automatically. I keep seeing the term "OSS" but when I'm googling it, all I get are results for Open Sound System and some governmental body's websites. Is this possible at all? Does anyone know what this "OSS" is? It sounds like a piece of software on all applicable OS's, but I can't find it.

[xenopeek]

Is it perhaps spelled "OSs"? That is just the plural of OS.

Parallels for macOS does something like this to let you run programs in Windows on macOS without rebooting. It is no different from VirtualBox in that you run the programs in a Windows virtual machine, but instead of showing you the Windows desktop with the program window in that it hides the Windows desktop and just shows you the program window as if it is natively running on macOS. It is still running in a virtual machine like VirtualBox.

If this doesn't match what you mean, give a bit more detail as to what you're trying to achieve.

[borg101]

Is it perhaps spelled "OSs"? That is just the plural of OS.

Parallels for macOS does something like this to let you run programs in Windows on macOS without rebooting. It is no different from VirtualBox in that you run the programs in a Windows virtual machine, but instead of showing you the Windows desktop with the program window in that it hides the Windows desktop and just shows you the program window as if it is natively running on macOS. It is still running in a virtual machine like VirtualBox.

If this doesn't match what you mean, give a bit more detail as to what you're trying to achieve.

It's possible it could be OSs....I honestly didn't think of that though because it was all caps. I landed on a few pages earlier. I'm searching through my history now. One was a git called "adzerk-oss" (https://github.com/minimal-xyz/minimal-cljs-boot-reload).

Basically what I'm curious if it's currently possible to boot from one OS specific application to a different OS specific application without actually rebooting the entire machine. Of if it has to reboot, perhaps a splash screen. My boot time is never more than 20 seconds or so, so it wouldn't be overly noticeable. I wouldn't mind running a VM if they weren't so resource intensive, unless there is a way to delegate resources per application without having multiple VM's setup.

[jimallyn]

Basically what I'm curious if it's currently possible to boot from one OS specific application to a different OS specific application without actually rebooting the entire machine.

Not that I know of. I use VirtualBox to run additional OSes in my Mint install, and I don't notice it being particularly resource hungry. But then I have an i7 processor and 12 gigs of RAM. Your mileage may vary. I did run VirtualBox back when I only had 4 gigs of RAM, and it was sometimes noticeable then, depending upon what I was doing in each OS. I assume you are probably familiar with Wine?

[xenopeek]

One was a git called "adzerk-oss"

In that example it stands for Open Source Software.

[borg101]

Basically what I'm curious if it's currently possible to boot from one OS specific application to a different OS specific application without actually rebooting the entire machine.

Not that I know of. I use VirtualBox to run additional OSes in my Mint install, and I don't notice it being particularly resource hungry. But then I have an i7 processor and 12 gigs of RAM. Your mileage may vary. I did run VirtualBox back when I only had 4 gigs of RAM, and it was sometimes noticeable then, depending upon what I was doing in each OS. I assume you are probably familiar with Wine?

I am getting familiar with Wine. This is my first run with Linux as a daily driver. I've used it on laptops for years for menial tasks, but I decided to fully switch over. I have an i5 underclocked (yes under) to 3.5ghz with 16 gigs of ram, 10tb hdd and a gtx670 with 4gigs. This is an HTPC rig and I'm trying to go keyboard free and just use my remote with my FLIRC to navigate between Steam, Kodi, and LaunchBox (windows only currently), as well as Netlfix and Amazon within an Android environment.

[xenopeek]

Off-topic discussion What is the plural of OS? moved to new topic in Open Chat.

[borg101]

Off-topic discussion What is the plural of OS? moved to new topic in Open Chat.

Sweet! Thank you btw. Now if only I could find an answer. I'm trying to avoid Windows at all costs, even in VM. I thought "hot swapping" to Android might work, but now I'm thinking VM might be the only choice.