In the past I had used my Windows PC as my development port prior to uploading to my linux server and did deal with several occurrences where "crash bugs" would arise on my windows port that did not appear on my development server. I now do all my Mud Development on my own linux box before uploading to my linux server, and I also use linux for every other aspect of computing and no longer own Windows.
Whatever you choose to do is up to use is up to you, everyone has a preference. The only reason I am spending time writing this is because: A) You don't need another box to run a version of linux on your computer and
In many cases Linux is easier and more user-friendly then Windows. My wife who is NOT computer literate uses Ubuntu and refuses to touch Windows. So if those are your only reasons from not sampling a linux OS, they are not quality reasons.
FYI, you can download a copy of Ubuntu and run it off a CD or USB without installing it just to check it out.