My suggestion for Linux people (though it's unrelated to what the author of the article cares about): try Cygwin (
www.cygwin.com). If you have 2GB free, just install everything. After installing,
immediately do: mount -c /
You'll have all the tools you can imagine without the need to install anything more. (Of course, if you are seriously
needing X, it might be worthwhile the native windows port of X, but the difference is usually minimal) If you copy
the .stuff files from linux, you'll also have all the settings you are used to.
For me, this obviates the need for linux, though your mileage may vary. Of course, the other alternative is virtualization,
but I never tried that, so I can't compare.