Yes, VirtualBox is a (free) VM (www.virtualbox.org). VirtualBox, and VMware, both have an "Integrated" desktop mode. When using that mode, the guest OS applications look like they're running directly on your host desktop - instead of running inside a segregated window. It's good that you have dual boot right now, it's really the easiest way to become acclimatized to Linux for a new user. Just keep doing web searches and play around in the package manager for your distro. You'll find Linux apps you can't believe you lived without. :)
