Linux notebooks

Hello everyone:

    Forgive me if I'm recovering old ground-- I seem to recall a post about this a while back-- but things change so rapidly in this
business.  I'm in the market for a new notebook, which I would like to be Linux, but I'm not sure I have the time and the inclination
to do all the installation and configuration stuff myself.  After all, I'm a developer, not an admin (no jab ad admin's intended-- you
guys are essential!)   Anyway, I remembered Tuxtops and discovered to my dismay that they'd sold their laptop business!  Were they
doing badly?  Were their machines any good?  I also saw the site for Emporer Linux and wondered if their stuff was any good.
    Second question:  I'm still somewhat tethered to Windoze, in a business sense, so I was wondering if Vmware provided a good enough
platform of the MS environment to be used for development, especially Visual C++.  I haven't used it at all but I plan to try it out
soon.  I know Vmware is  not free, etc., what I'm interested in is reliability and openness, not saving money.  (For me it's a business
expense.)  I not against Windows if it "knows its place", that is, if Linux is calling the shots and Bill's stuff is not allowed to
crash my computer!

Thanks in advance for any input,
Vaughn Treude

Nakota Software, Inc.
Industrial Software Desgin and Development