XP Home Virtual O/S

QVC advertised (however no longer) a Dell Mini with both XP Home and a Dell specific version of Ubuntu. I don't know if this was a select at boot option, or a virtual O/S. Is it possible to create an XP Home or XP pro virtual O/S within Ubuntu, or an Ubuntu virtual O/S within XP Home or XP Pro? If so, what is the easiest way to do this? I am not completely illiterate, but I wouldn't consider myself to be a power user either. I dont feel comfortable diving right into Ubuntu, and there art still programs that I need a Microsoft O/S for such as AOL, Palm Desktop, Outlook, and some work related programs. I also wish to discover how to use Ubuntu, and what programs are available.

Thank yo,

Sfbc2pa