I already have experience with setting up virtual machines, running them and other minor tasks. Im a gamer, so I wont get rid of windows (for now at least...) but I do want to be a great programmer and to be involved with the Open-Source community.

Id like to know if its a good idea to do my programming in linux through a virtual machine, vs giving it a partitioned section of the HDD. Id like to know about performance pros and cons and functionality. All responses are appreciated, thanks in advance.

The type of programming I intend to dive into : Android Dev, Web Dev, Desktop Dev...More Android and Web right now though.

So im looking at C#,C,C++,Java,PHP,HTML,MySQL...Off the top of the dome.

I do web designing as well, so dreamweaver is added as an "essential". But im sure I can do dreamweaver files and upload them to the server after programming in Linux...Right?

And any info on IDE's in Linux for the above mentioned are appreciated, but i would prefer going the coding route and understanding the essence of whats happening "under the covers"

Thanks to all for reading, I appreciate it. Hope this isnt confusing :S