thanks. that is something i did have setup. its a very useful stop-gap solution. but at some point one does inevitably have to work with the platform itself, and in all fairness, i just feel 'safer' in Windows. simply because its quite the learning curve to learn development but then to learn about a new OS adds to that.

I do see what you are saying though, and its ideal for someone that isnt as unfamiliar as i

Since graduating a year ago, I seem to have turned into a Windows guy, simply because I use it all day at work.

Having a reflective moment a couple of weeks ago, I decided to learn something completely different (for me) and try Ruby. Not wanting to become type-cast as a Windows guy, I chose to do it on a unix based system. For this, I use an Ubuntu image in Virtual Box, and have been very happy.

> I just feel 'safer' in Windows.

I guess I could say I'm the same, though I think its more down to simply preferring Windows 7's UI/UX over the likes of Gnome and KDE. I've also tried customising a whole variety Linux window mangers, but always gave up.

So what I'm doing now is using Virtual Box in headless mode, then ssh-ing in with X-forwarding enabled. This gives me new icons in Windows 7's task bar for every 'remote' Linux window I have open. (though really I don't use much more than a terminal and maybe gvim). To an observer looking over my shoulder, it would just appear that the 'remote' Linux applications are native Windows programs.

[edit] I didn't really address your point about the learning curve to learning a new OS. This is valid issue and all I can suggest is to give it a try, and using a VM is an easy way to just dip in. You can get pre-installed Virtual Box images for many Linux distros such that it is really easy to get started. Unfortunately, my set-up took quite a bit of effort to get started (even with my familiarity with unix), but using a full-screen Linux VM is a good place to get started.

I guess what I was describing is just where you can go with it once you're comfortable.

it's true that setting up node on windows is just a minor convenience (i did it with both ubuntu on virtualbox and with cygwin). it's still a big gap for novice programmers, and severely limits the number of windows users who just want to try it. having a native version for windows will increase adoption a lot.