Man you must recycle jokes at parties.

No dual boot needed, can use Linux exclusive programs and have data stored outside of the VM for easy access

Yes but if you dual boot there’s no VM needed LOL

I just can’t possibly comprehend why you would prefer that when dual booting is so much simpler…

Able to take advantage of the performance improvements of using Linux as your daily driver compared to Windows (most notably lower memory usage)

So you mean to tell me running Windows inside of Linux uses less RAM than just Windows? How does that work?

Not barred by Windows 11’s requirements

I mean you can get around that using Rufus easy enough (I’m told).

we are looking at this situation through the lens of a user who wants to use Linux with access to their Windows programs

But why?

the advantage of not using Windows as your main operating system is that you have a stable, secure baseline, without any fears of unwanted telemetry or addons

I’m not sure you understand how a VM works. There’s nothing about a VM that removes telemetry or add-ons from Windows…

And who said anything about a “main operating system”? Linux can still be your “main”.