[dba-Tech] XP Pro + Linux Dual Boot

My hardware is a duo-core HP box with 2 hard disks and 2 GB RAM. I would
like to set this up as a dual-boot XP/Linux machine. The drives are labeled
c: and h:. The current boot drive is h:. I have plenty of space on c:,
certainly enough to carve off 20 GB for Linux using Partition Magic. But I'm
wondering whether to do this or instead go the VMWare route. I use Linux
relatively rarely, but would love to have a Linux VM available anytime I
need it. If I install VMWare, then how do I create a virtual Linux? I've a
couple of Linuxes that boot from the CD and leave your machine untouched,
but I think that I'd rather create a VM for it instead, so I could install
various packages on it and keep them.

Any advice? Gotchas to beware?

TIA,
Arthur