What do you find worse for development? VirtualBox seems OK here. I have been finding Windows 10 much nicer to work with as a developer than Windows 8.1 - except for the bit where it reads everything I type, listens to everything I say, keeps checking what I look like and sending it all to Microsoft and the NSA. It's a shame; I was all set to consider this another "good" Windows after the pain that was Windows 8.
My primary issue is Windows 7 on this machine has become very unstable, with frequent hangs and crashes. The upgrade to 10 fixed all of these issues, it worked fantastically for me and I was even interested in exploring the Metro app design stuff. I would try Linux on here but it's my wife's computer, so she's said no. Maybe I should boot from usb...
Just dual boot. There are very easy and detailed tutorials around - and we have a few linux guys around here as well, if you have any questions. I'll be happy to help, too. Who knows, maybe once you have a neat linux desktop set up, your wife may change her mind. People have many preconceptions about linux which mostly stem from the 90s. Times certainly have changed for the better in Linuxland. On topic: The only keys windows is going to log from me are "WASD" and a few related modifiers. If they really want to log my (crappy) movements in ARMA3 or DayZ, they can. Apart from that? Me clicking "reboot". Haven't seen Windows for days.
Same here. I was hit by the Windows 7 memory leak bug that forced me to reboot, if it didn't crash, every two hours. Upgraded to 8.1 to fix it, then upgraded to 10 to try it out - I've been loving 10 ever since (though I might have to use another Windows because apparently the Unity development kit doesn't run in 10.)