On the theory that the empeg-bbs crowd is a perfect sounding board for all manner of technical questions...

Theory? That's an axiom by now, isn't it?

First off, you're missing the key ingredient -- beer on tap.

The one thing I think you should consider is that if you're doing the VMware thing, get a PC with a dual head graphics card and two monitors. Dual flat panel monitors could make the cost per seat go way up, but then you can run the VMware XP guest on its own monitor and do Linux stuff on the other. Dual head graphics cards could also be real sweet for some games that can take advantage of multiple monitors. Not that you're encouraging that type of thing....

I've never used VMware for Linux, but I do run a Linux guest in VMware for Windows. This is due to my recently-discussed... uh... disgust... for Linux GUI's. But it sounds like your guys are using Linux more than XP, so make them Linux machines and have XP in a VMware window.

The other option is to intermingle both configurations (XP on Linux and Linux on XP) but that might deliniate the lab and take away from that "community" atmosphere you want. The kegerator will help take care of that, though.

Beer. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.