[bsg75]

Knowing how to find the answers to such question is an element of being an expert - not knowing all the answers, but knowing how to find them.

Djanjo, Python, Rails, and PHP can run find in a Windows environment, but the community is rooted Linux (and OSX to some degree), thus the amount of quality resources available for your research is greater. Same goes for .NET - more Windows information is available compared to Mono.

Being able to make the best choices for a project is a valuable skill.

[jf22]

Totally agree with you however what I'm finding to be the most difficult is a lot of getting started resources tend to be using different nuances of the Python programming environment.

My goal is to setup an environment closest to what I'd see in the field but its really hard to determine what that means.

In the ms world when you bounce jobs getting up and running usually involves using the same three programs you always use.

From reading about python I'm getting the sense that there is so much more variety out there in the field.

[avenger123]

This comes down to what your goals are.

If you want to do Django, just use this:

http://www.turnkeylinux.org/django

It might not be the latest, the best web server, etc. but it will get you going.. Give it a few weeks and you'll be better able to answer your own questions.

At this point, starting is the best approach.

[simonw]

I'd suggest learning Ubuntu - it's popular and widely used as both a desktop and server OS, and it's great for running Python.

Run Ubuntu inside a virtual machine (VMware or VirtualBox) and you can simulate your exact deployment environment on your local laptop.