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I don't see this specific question in the search, but see misc discussion. I've gotten a thinkpad to dedicate to Linux. I want to use Kali on it. However, I don't think the best idea is to use Kali as the main OS. So I'm deciding which would be a better solution. Dual-booting or on a slim usb flash drive. Better performance I think is the key.
Installing it will give you more performance, that's for sure but dual booting sometimes results in messed up bootloader due to OS updates so if you choose that, be ready to deal with it.
However, installing on a flash drive has limitations. If you are using a live USB, you won't be able to update packages or save data. If you are choosing to do persistence, you'll be able to update packages and save data on it. However, updating the kernel is not an easy process, you'll have to do some research on how to do it (manual process for now). If you are using a Live USB and don't care about saving data, you can always update it with weekly ISOs (ISO with updated packages regenerated once a week).
Depending on what you want to do, you can always use a virtual machine, except in the following situations:
- Using built-in wifi card
- Bluetooth pentesting
- SDR (doable on VM but not recommended)
- There is another reason but I can't remember.
For wi-fi work, I always use a non-VM install. I've found wireless to be problematic within a virtual machine.
FYI, I use Kali primarily from a dual-boot laptop, and have a Kali USB drive (persistence & LUKS encrypted) for portable needs.