Just thought I would throw this out there. What I use to test different OS on my computer is VMware Server. It a free Virtual Machine creator/server. It allows you to install different distros and run them from within windows. You can even run multiple OS's at the same time (if you have enough RAM). If you want, you can also download the linux version and create a virtual MS Windows machine.
This is a good tool for testing out different distros and seeing how they work. I use it to test websites in different web browsers. It does require quite a bit of RAM and runs a little slower than if you install the distro to the hard drive, but it comes in very handy in my line of work.
http://www.vmware.com/products/server/
There is also a VMware player. It takes up less space (server installer is almost 200mb), but you can't create your own Virtual Machines, you can only download what others have already created.
http://www.vmware.com/products/server/
-Mike
