Quote Originally Posted by RandomGuy View Post
If you're only trying to get a linux terminal to mess around/learn with just do as the others posted above.

Just download virtualbox, it's free: http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...-82870-Win.exe
With that ^ you can create little "virtual machines" that are imaginary computers inside of your real physical computer.
Create a new virtual machine and install a linux distribution onto it

If you were installing Ubuntu onto a real physical computer, you'd download this http://www.ubuntu.com/start-download...release=latest and burn it to a CD and then boot from that CD.

In Virtual Box you just tell the fake CD drive in the fake computer that the .ISO file is the CD inside and go from there like you would on a real computer.

Hope this helps
Exactly what all of these guys said. cygwin is sought out by people trying to run bash natively on their windows environments. Stick to a VM -- I recommend virtual box like mentioned above as it's light, free, and great for the desktop. Lot's of community and OS support as well. The second thing you should consider is what distribution you want to use and that is all based on what you're looking to do. Given that you're using it for training purposes I'd recommend Ubuntu/Fedora for Desktop (graphical desktop interface) and CentOS/Ubuntu for server (command line only). The reason is that they're pretty standard among the industry and most distributions are based off of them.

Just remember... linux is linux... the only difference between them is packaging. CentOS and Ubuntu both have a gigantic community with lots of help. CentOS being stronger on the commercial side and Ubuntu being stronger on the hobbyist/enthusiasts. Both are equal in their ability, however, most find that Ubuntu is better for beginners.

Lastly, if you're not working in command line, you're not really learning anything about linux so don't worry too much about the eye candy. Hope this helps.