[IDEs, Libraries, & Programming Tools] Thatgrass:
Hello there,

Are you on Windows or OS X and do you want to develop for Android with(out) dual-boot or installing a whole new operating system on your PC? Well, then you have come to the right place!

In this guide I'am going to show you how to set-up a virtual machine with Java, the Android SDK, the Eclipse IDE and the Android Source Code.

I will be using Windows in this tutorial, but you can use pretty much every OS out there; The setup is pretty much the same. I use Ubuntu 12.10 for the VirtualBox guide and 12.04 for the other guides in this thread, but you can use every version of Ubuntu you'd like.

So let's get started.

1. Setting up VirtualBox

(You can skip this step if you want to develop apps with your current OS, or if you don't want to build ROMs from source code)

a. Go to virtualbox.org and select your proper operating system, in my case this will be the Windows Hosts download.

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b. Once downloaded, run the installer and leave all boxes ticked as they are and hit ''Install'' at every pop-up.

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c. Now go to ubuntu.com and download the 32 or 64 bit image. I'd recommend 32 bit, since it'll run smoother in VirtualBox, but if your intention is to develop ROMs, you should pick the 64 bit.

d. When it has downloaded, open VirtualBox and hit the ''New'' button in the upper left corner. Call it Ubuntu12.10 and make sure it looks like the following.

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e. Add at least 1000MB of RAM and if you can spare more, but make sure it's not more than half of your host PC RAM, otherwise you're PC could crash. Then click ''Next".

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f. Now choose ''Create new Virtual Harddisk and hit ''Next'', then choose ''VDI'' and then the ''Dynamic'' option. Now choose you amount of storage in the Virtual Harddisk, I'd recommend at least 40GB, but if you've in mind developing from source, I should go for 70GB or more. After that, click the ''Create'' button.

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g. Click on the Ubuntu12.10 tab on the left side and then hit ''Storage'' in the right pannel.

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h. Now hit ''Empty'' button underneath ''Controller IDE'', click in the right pannel the disk image and click ''Choose virtual CD/DVD-Image''

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i. Navigate to the Ubuntu12.10 Image you've downloaded earlier and open it. After that, hit ''OK'' on the downright corner.

j. Now click the option ''Display'', in the same tab as in step ''g''. Move the ''Videomemory'' all the way up to the top and hit ''OK'' again.

k. Just hit ''Start'' and Ubuntu should right boot to the installer screen.

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l. First pick your language on thee right side, then we want to ''Install Ubuntu''.

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m. Tick the boxes ''Download updates while installing'' and ''Install this third-party software''. Make sure you are connected to the internet and your good to go; hit ''Continue''.

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n. Leave the installation type on ''Erase Disk and install Ubuntu'', don't worry, this will only wipe your Virtual Harddisk. Hit ''Continue'' again; this will start the installation process.

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o. While installing, Ubuntu will ask you for your location, keyboard layout, name and give you some information about Ubuntu 12.10. For me this installation took around 50 minutes.

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p. If it says ''Remove Disk please'' or something simular, just press ''Enter''. When the VM has booted up, login, then click at the top ''Devices''. At the bottom it says:''Install Guest additions..''. Click it and follow the instructions on screen. It'll auto-reboot.

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q. The last step: Search for the programm: ''Software Updater'' in ''Dash Home''. Open it and it will check for updates, then click ''Install now''. This will install the latest Ubuntu updates.

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Now you have a complete Ubuntu OS running in VirtualBox. Congratulations!