Originally Posted by
johnwash1
From your PM I know you have a very capable laptop. For you, the way forward is to use (within Windows) something such as VirtualBox to run a virtual machine within your real one. In particular you can run a Linux system inside such a VM. Indeed, you can run several different versions of Linux and choose which you prefer!
I do this the other way round. My desktop PC runs Linux, but I've installed VirtualBox (free, open source) and within that I run Windows 8.1 (it could be 10 of course, but I was too late for the free upgrade). It's delightful, I can copy/paste between the two systems, move files back and forth, and get the best of both worlds (though, call me biassed, apart from MS Visual Studio (brilliant), there isn't a whole lot in Windows that I consider better than that which I have in Linux!).
VirtualBox is just yet another application. So its presence on your system would have no relevance for warranty.
Lots more people ought to be aware of virtualisation, there are so many advantages. For example, anyone worried about online banking... install a virtual machine which you ONLY use for doing your banking.
Burgy, I doubt you'll master your aversion to Windows 10. Running a volunteer pc clinic for local pensioners I see Windows 10 a lot. E.g. I have one on the bench at the moment which says "Preparing to repair your pc"... "Diagnosing"... "Windows was unable to repair your pc"... [rinse and repeat ad infinitum]. Fortunately with a Linux CD I can pull off all the user's files, but none of the fixes in forums are successful and it'll have to be a complete reinstall.
Most users much preferred 7, but MS seem determined to kill that off.