Choosing a Rockbox Development Platform for Windows.

NOTE:This is a work in progress still.

Why?

The Rockbox cross-compiler only works on Unix (not Windows), but a number of ways exist to get some kind of Linux behahiour on Windows to run the compiler on.

Prominent ones include:

• Cygwin
• Virtual Machines (VMWare, VirtualBox, VirtualPC, etc)
• CoLinux
• WinARM (Windows Port of the arm-elf-gcc toolchain, for ARM only)
• Interix (POSIX subsystem for Windows NT-based systems)

Breakdown

Cygwin

Pros

• Lightweight. No heavy RAM usage, no virtual network adapters show up,

Cons

• Sloooooooooow

Virtual Machines

Virtualization is a way of running an OS inside another one, such that one can run Linux in a window on Windows(or a different pair of OSs).

General Pros

• Compiling should be at nearly the same speed it would be at running on the raw metal, if sufficient RAM is available
• Gives an easy-to-use GUI for all development work

General Cons

• Heavy on resources (two operating systems at once takes some power). Several GBs free is best, and the more RAM the better.
• Heavy install. Often virtual network adapters will be added to your system, and other such things.

VMWare

Pros

• VMWare Player is free, and allows for easy use of the prebuilt Rockbox dev appliance--just drop it in.
• VMWare Workstation is arguably the best virtualization product for desktop use.
• Virtual appliances can be built for free using the online tool EasyVMX.

Cons

• VMWare Player does not allow creation of appliances, but many are available pre-built online(including one for Rockbox development)
• Workstation costs USD $189
• Both are closed source.

VirtualBox

Pros

• VirtualBox is maintained by Sun Microsystems and comes in both a proprietary and open source edition. Both versions are free like beer (for personal use).
• VirtualBox is available for many major operating systems.
• VirtualBox supports VMDK, which allows it to access VMWare disk images. It should also allow drop-in use of the prebuilt Rockbox dev appliance.

Cons

• The GPL version lacks a few features, namely USB passthrough to the guest, ability to RDP into the guest, and a virtual SATA controller.