Use virtual box and debian stable/testing. Solid as a rock. Forget VMware - its a pain in the arse. Make sure you are on 64 bit windows.

I have to remain a windows user as I have a ton of stuff written in visual c++ that is at least 10-16 years old which I need to support (30 year support contracts rock :))

My main workstation is a 5 year old Lenovo T61 with a Samsung 840 pro and its as fast as any new machine at 1/10th of the costs.

My experiences with macos x have been disastrous - its just about the hardest thing to get anything to build on and that includes dragging 15 year old c++ stuff onto 64 bit windows.