I haven't followed this thread so closely, but have you tried win4lin? Not as good separation as vmware, but works quite well I've heard.
everythinglinux.com.au has it for $149 -- half that of vmware. Matt (I have no connection with win4lin or everythinglinux.) -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
