Hi, I'm interested in buying a PDA because I usually need to have access to some type of computer at most times for my work, and I'm starting to get really tired of carrying my laptop everywhere. But, there's one problem. For my work, I pretty much need to be running both a flavor of Windows and Linux. Is that even possible with a PDA? I was interested in some of Compaq's IPAQs, but I've never even heard of anyone doing this before. But I have seen PDAs that have Linux on it, and others that have a Microsoft OS on it, but never both. What do ya'll think? Thanks, -Forward5

You can run Win2002 (XP) for the iPaq or I have seen Linux installed on an iPaq, but you can NOT dual boot. One or the other only.

Why do you need dual booting? Usually what you need to share with your desktop computer are files, and as long as the file format is correct, then the operating system in the PDA shouldn't matter. I have a Linux based PDA (Sharp Zaurus) and I can copy files back and forth with my Windows PC (Using the Qtopia Desktop for Windows, which comes with the PDA) and with the appropiate software I can open (in the PDA) Word documents, Spreadsheets, text files, etc. The Zaurus already has some software that allows me to see pictures, mpeg videos, play mp3s, a to do list, calendar, contacts, etc. Most probably you will never see a PDA having a dual boot, because their BIOS is pretty much straight forward to just booting. It's not like a normal PC that you can have partitions, different file systems, etc.