I would highly recommend VirtualBox (vbox). I got win8 up and running in it today. Was pretty simple. If you've never really used virtualization software before there might be a small learning curve but it's not too difficult and vbox isn't terrible complex.
So far my impressions of Windows 8 are mixed. I think the Metro UI is great but not on a legacy desktop computer. I'm really excited about the future of tablets thou.
The lack of the old fashioned start button when in the legacy desktop is a completely retarded decision on Microsoft's part. I'm a windows guy but I'm going to find it hard to defend some of their decisions here. They seem to be forcing the Metro style interface on you. Problem is all of your existing software is meant to be run in the legacy desktop so all they've essentially done is crippled your ability to run those apps. Very poor decision IMO.
I've only given this VM 1G of ram to use and the OS has performed pretty well. The Metro UI is amazingly snappy, thou some of the apps you launch from it are not.
