Virtual Machines and Web Development on local Windows

I'm new to web development, so please pardon me if my question seems irrelevant or ambiguous.

I am currently working on my local environment which is Windows 7 (x64), and I plan to apply for a server under my university. To which, I was told to apply for a virtual machine. After reading this, I got a better idea of how VM works as server.

However, I'm still unsure as to how the platform of the VM might affect the development.

1) If I'm developing locally with Windows 7, does it matter if I apply for a Linux VM or do I have to apply for Windows 7 VM?

2) If I do apply for Linux VM, what does it mean and what are the implications?

Thanks!