Cool programs you should check out. Click their name to expand for more information
Sun (Oracle) VirtualBox
Sun (Oracle) VirtualBox (
Virtualbox.com 
) is my favorite VM software. It works perfectly with my Slackware Linux host with a custom 2.6.28 kernel.
It has many great features such as experimental 3D guest support, shared folders, several networking options, and experimental multi-core support. Within my VMs I run Ubuntu 9.04, CentOS 5, a trial of Windows 2003 Server, and Windows XP without issue!
The best part of a VM is if you don't want the OS taking up space anymore you can delete it without have to fight to get HD space back. Give it a try. It's free and awesome!
Slackware Linux
If you havn't been able to tell already Slackware Linux is my distro of choice. I love it for it's simplicity, stability, and security. For many it's not simple, but it's how I learned to use Linux a long time ago. It can by hard, but it's well worth it to learn. Slackware Linux has been rated as the closest Linux distro to BSD and Unix. You don't need GUI tools to do everything. You get to do it all right from the shell! I love it and highly recommend it. Keep in mind. If you are new to Linux it may not be the best route for you to take unless you are willing to learn... and read.
Get it
Here at slackware.com
MediaCoder