If you want to work with Virtual Machines on one loaded up desktop computer, Hyper-V on Windows 8 is a excellent solution. Be sure to get 2 NICs and follow best practices about only binding one to a virtual switch. On my desktop box I am able to run 4-5 VMs and still play Skyrim effectively. I've run Xen on the same box, and Hyper-V under server 2008r2. The Windows 8 implementation of Hyper-V is reliable and easy to use and leaves you a high performance desktop as an added bonus.

I had to subscribe to slashdot just to reply to this ... I miss Zeke and Zack (Altai Software). These were very well written and well supported programs on the VSE platform, and were an entry point for me in implementing serious systems professionally. To the original poster, if I read you correctly I would worry most about trade secrets. I have never done this, but prior to signing my first non-disclosure agreement I asked a family member who had worked as a programmer and manager in a large computer company what he thought the real world implications of signing it would be. His advise to me was that if you had what you felt was a good idea for a new product, get all your ducks in a row and pitch it to the employer with whom you have an NDA, including all of the resources you would need to bring this product to market. If your current employer rejects the product plan, then you would be on pretty solid ground to go off on your own to develop it. Of course once you start talking about a group at a given company, things become more complicated than that.