So I am obviously completely new to Linux. I have Windows 7 (avoiding Windows 8 as long as possible) and am not sure if I should do a dual boot or run it as a VM. If I choose the latter, which virtual server app should I use and is there an open source alternative?

Ruthie
"It's time for some thrilling heroics."

interesting...wish i could be more of a help.

I had very good experiences with virtualbox so far. I run windows xp in it for the (by now very few) tasks I need a windows environment for, but I'm sure W7 will run fine, too. It's typically available in the repos, so installation is convenient.
The advantage of using a virtual machine is that you don't have to reboot everytime you want to switch to the other OS. Virtualbox supports common folders on the host and the guest, so moving files back and forth is not a problem.

Note that you will split RAM between the two, so if you have old hardware your machine may slow down quite a bit while running the virtual windows.

If you decide to go for the virtual windows I'd still recommend to leave the original windows install on your computer when installing the Linux of your choice. If you have difficulties to get everything up and running as expected you may need this fallback option... Once everything runs smoothly you can still wipe the windows partition later.

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Oops, just realised you may actually have meant your question the other way round :-)
But you can also install Virtualbox on a windows host and install a Linux distro as the guest.
And yes - it is open source.

https://www.virtualbox.org/

virtualbox is great in both directions, I'd start there.

Installing linux in a vm is a good option just to test it, take it out for a spin or get your feet wet, but in avm you won't really experience the real performance of linux because you will be running 2 operating systems.
If all you want to do is test it to see if you like it you can use live-cd/usb to get to know os which will let you know if you want to move to the next step.
Also using a vm will depend on your hardware specs as far as how much memory you have.

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Thanks for the help so far. I think a live cd might be a good starting point. After that I may try a vm if I am still not ready for a full installation. And thanks for the info about VirtualBox.

Ruthie

Perhaps live CD is not the best option. For sure you wont be able to save any work you do or any settings or customization you do to your distro. Live CD session will lack of additional software you would need for media files you use during your everyday computing.

So maybe you should try virtual box first, then dual boot.

Good luck to you.

The virtual box method is great as it lets you try it all out without making permanent changes to your pc. Well worth the effort to give it a go and as TroN-0074 said, the live cd is rather limited in what it can do especially saving settings.

A live CD/DVD image can be transferred to USB stick: a live USB will be much faster and you can save stuff on it. Knoppix is actually intended to be used that way.