Is it a good idea to have two operating systems?

Is it a good idea to have two operating systems?

 Unless you know a lot about about the linux command line, I
wouldn't recommend switching to linux. And just because of the
windows xp "apocalypse" (lol), windows xp
won't suddenly become unsafe. If you have antivirus software,
it will continue to function normally. That being said, if you rely on Microsoft providing support, or want a more secure os, why not just upgrade to windows 7 or 8 i'm pretty sure most, if not all xp
software will work with both of them. As for dual booting making your computer safer.... Um, i don't think it works like that. Whenyou run xp, it will still be as secure as xp. If you only want a more secure os, get some decent antivirus software. Otherwise, I'd
recommend getting windows 7 or 8.

Depending on what exactly you rely upon, you may just be able to install windows xp on a virtual machine within a *nix. The advantage of this is you can take a snapshot of a clean system, and restore to it everytime you boot. Of course anything you want to save from session to session, you'd need to keep on a separate hard drive image.

Any switching OS takes time and there's a learning curve. Having extra hardware to test and figure things out while keeping you main machine working on the OS you are used to is highly recommended.