LinuxProgramming.com: Book Review: The Multi-Boot Configuration Handbook

“An exhaustive and nearly exhausting examination of the
issues, tools, and techniques related to running more than one
operating system on the same computer. If you’re interested in
running any two or more of Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, OS/2, DOS, and any
flavor of Windows on the same system, this book could be just the
thing you need at 2AM when things so seriously wrong, or you simply
can’t figure out how to do something simple in a multi-OS setup.
Highly recommended.“

“Somewhere in a parallel universe there exists a world blessed
with a computer industry that has at least as much diversity and
choice as ours, but mercifully lacks the mind-numbing details we
often have to deal with in building multiple-OS systems. Most
programmers have run into this at one time or another, either when
building test systems, or perhaps when “midnight installing” Linux
in a strictly all-Windows work environment. Until we find a way to
visit that other universe and its computer utopia, we’ll have to
continue to endure building and living with what can be some
mind-boggling combinations of hardware and software. Given that
situation, Roderick Smith’s The Multi-Boot Configuration
Handbook is a must have for anyone who needs to create and
maintain such systems.”

“The most obvious question about this book is: How could it
possibly take the author over 600 pages to cover this topic? The
book is not padded with gratuitous illustrations and
screen shots (although it does make quite good use of them), ala
the endless code listings in many programming titles we’ve all
seen. The page count comes from the broad scope Smith took in
addressing the topic. Instead of talking about just setting up a
computer than can boot different OS’s and leaving it at that, he
spends a good part of the book talking about general
interoperability issues, like common file formats, sharing disk
space between different OS’s, emulators, and backup strategies (you
know a book is complete when the author even gets down to backups,
everyone’s least favorite topic).”

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