Lingwisyer understood my reasoning perfectly.
A virtual machine, as the name suggests, is virtual.
As far as I know, a virtual machine is stored on a physical drive (also as a special image). While it is running, it is "moved" from the disk to RAM, etc.
To run a virtual machine, you first need a working operating system !!! Therefore, the virtual machine philosophy can hardly be called an alternative in the event of an operating system failure !
This means that if you remove that physical drive from your computer, you lose both the main OS and access to the virtual machine. Of course, you can store the virtual machine on a separate drive, etc.
However, with my solution, I can remove one physical drive from the computer (or disable it in the BIOS). Then I can easily and simply run the same OS from the second physical drive, since it's a real drive, not a virtual one.
I can run the second OS after a simple restart PC. I don't have to worry about running the virtual machine, for example, from an external drive.
Having two physical drive with identical partitions (but NOT RAID !!!) is, in my opinion, more resistant to any SOFTWARE failures (OS, virtual machines)!
To put it simply: virtual machines minimize the number of physical drive (or partitions) to run another OS in the background, etc., yes, but they can be too complicated to use and understand for most average users.
Meanwhile, the price of a second physical drive is NOT prohibitive.
Yes, partition cloning remains a mystery to most users. And many people do not distinguish between the concepts of "disk" and "partition" anyway.
But LATER the ability to change the OS by simply restarting the PC became incredibly easy.
Regarding the software key, I think it should be stored in an image of the operating system partition. Then, after restoring from the image of the operating system partition on the SAME computer, it should work. But that's just my guess, as I can't verify this since I don't have the software key. And everything comes full circle.
I don't know how a software key would behave on the SAME computer when backing up (and then restoring) the OS partition. That's why I didn't take the risk of switching from a hardware key to a software key.
YES, I KNOW that if I lose my software key, I can contact Graphisoft to get a new one, etc.
However, it would be inconvenient for me to have to apply for a new key every time I forget to send the key back and restore the operating system from a partition image (without the key, etc.), after a hardware or software update, after an OS update, etc., which I do periodically.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Graphisoft found this suspicious.
That's why I don't want to be suspicious.
That's why I'm sticking with a hardware key because I don't want a software key, and Graphisoft unfortunately doesn't offer cloud keys for perpetual (non-subscription) licenses for ArchiCAD veterans.
That's why I'm staying with the 29 perpetual license and the hardware key.
I think this is a fair approach to the matter. 🙂
"When you seek knowledge, you will eventually find it. Then you will become its source - until such time as you must seek it again."
AC 7 - 29, Twinmotion | Windows 10 Pro for Workstations
Dell 7740 Xeon | 128GB | Quadro RTX 5000 16GB + LG 2560x1080
