I had been considering setting up a Linux box, for the purpose of running Intel's C++ compiler - it's free for Linux but not for Windows. But setting up a whole distribution just for one application I'll use only occasionally sems a little like overkill - I don't have any real interest in Linux.

So the two options I'd be happy to explore are:
1)Create a Linux partition in the free space on an existing disk, without having to wipe the disk and re-install Windows too.
2)Create a Linux Distro on a CD
3)Somehow run Linux applications through Windows.

Now I don't know if 1) is possible. 2) Is possible but then I can't install the compiler onto a CD-R!
And as for 3), I'm sure you can run Windows apps through Linux - isn't that what WINE does - but what about the other way round? Since it's a compiler I'm installing then it will be run under Linux, to create & save a new Linux application which I would then also need to run.

Any help much appreciated. I don't have the time or interest to spend hours or days re-formatting my disks, fixing my existing setup, or tweaking Linux configurations. I want something fast and easy - I'm used to the "install & run" ideal of Windows. Please DON'T launch into any zealous *nix evangelism (not that I'd expect that on this site really).

Many thanks in advance.