1) if you want to program in "gnu", run unx, and if you want Windows as your host OS, run virtualization; (yes, you need 8G, yes, you should have an SSD, if you don't, buy a new laptop for $700 and run linux native)
2) if you want a better command line, There's lighter weight ways like http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/ http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm ... and a set of binaries I found 5 years ago that seem to have vanished, works OK for me.
1) if you want to program in "gnu", run unx, and if you want Windows as your host OS, run virtualization; (yes, you need 8G, yes, you should have an SSD, if you don't, buy a new laptop for $700 and run linux native)
2) if you want a better command line, There's lighter weight ways like http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/ http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm ... and a set of binaries I found 5 years ago that seem to have vanished, works OK for me.