Considering the Mac forte is graphics ya it is a little puzzling..... but then I'm still on Windoze.
Have you heard of Virtual Box.  It's a free virtual machine package by Sun. Lets you set up any OS which can then be used as a desktop app. from within your main OS. I have it and have used it on my XP machine to try out things without the need to add drives or partition drives. Might be worth a look.