One of the things that keeps people from trying new operating systems is that they don’t want to lose any data that they have.  Most people also do not have multiple computers to use to try different things on.  A good alternative to erasing all of your data to try something new is to use a Virtual Machine.

Virutal machines emulate the environment of a computer and allow for you to install another operating system and run it inside of your current operating system.  Of course this will make the virtualized operating system not run as fast (in most cases)  but will give you the basic experience of the OS.  There are many Virtual machine applications out there that work with Windows, Mac, and Linux.

VM Ware – 30 day trial available

VirtualBox – Free but is not as full featured as VM Ware. Supports Windows, Linux and Mac.

Virtual PC – Free but only supports some versions of Windows

Parallels – Allows Mac users to run Windows software on their computer

Check out Ars Technica’s review of VirtualBox for Macs> Ars Technica