I would recommend using vm as there are many benifits to having a vm, not only is it running side by side with the host os but also you can have many copies of the same server running at the same time (just incase you break sharepoint ;) ).
you can have windows 8 on vm using this:
EDIT
Link is broken so iv take all the steps from the site, I went to google copied the url and the site came up.... goto the cache and you can see the site ;).... for the people who dont know iv posted the url in the comment or just read the comment block that i copied from the site:
Disclaimer: The information found in this blog post is not endorsed,
recommended, or supported by Microsoft. If you run into any issues
with this configuration you are on your own! You have been warned.
This blog post outlines how you can get SharePoint 2010 running on
Windows 8 RP for development purposes. I put this together as a way
to test out Visual Studio 2012 RC with SharePoint 2010 on Windows 8
RP.
To get started, please review the MSDN document called Setting
Up the Development Environment for SharePoint 2010 on Windows Vista,
Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008. These are the basic steps
required for getting SharePoint 2010 running on Windows 7.
To get SharePoint running on Windows 8 RP there are a few additional steps
which I have outlined below. Some of the steps will reference
information in the MSDN article linked above.
1.Download and Copy the SharePoint installation file to a folder (such as c:\SharePointFiles) on the computer where you are installing
SharePoint and doing your development. The SharePoint installation
file should be a single .EXE file such as OfficeServer.exe.
2.Extract the installation files by opening a command prompt window and then typing the following command at the directory location of the
folder where you copied the installation files in the previous step.
OfficeServer.exe /extract:c:\SharePointFiles
3.Using a text editor such as Notepad, open the installation configuration file, config.xml, located in the path
c:\SharePointFiles\files\Setup\config.xml and add the following line
inside the <configuration> tag: <Setting Id=”AllowWindowsClientInstall” Value=”True”/>
4.Save the configuration file.
5.Review the configuration file. It should look similar to the XML block shown in Step 2 sub-step 5 in this document.
6.Install the following prerequisites:
1.Microsoft Sync Framework
2.Chart Controls
3.Filter Pack – Located in the c:\SharePointFiles\PrerequisiteInstallerFiles\FilterPack folder
4.SQL Server Analysis Services ADOMD.NET
7.Enable Windows features by running the command shown in Step 2 sub-step 8 in this document.
8.Manually enable the Windows Identity Foundation feature by:
1.Go to the start menu (press the Windows key on the keyboard)
2.Type: “Windows Features”
3.Click on the Settings shown below the search box
4.Click on the Turn Windows Features On or Off option on the start menu
5.Check the Windows Identity Foundation 3.5 option and then click OK.
6.Wait for the feature to be enabled.
9.Open Internet Information Services Manager and expand the server node in the left tree menu to expose the Application Pools grouping.
10.Select Application Pools in the left menu and then click on the Set Application Pool Defaults… action in the right menu.
11.Set the .NET Framework version to V2.0 and then click OK
12.Select the DefaultAppPool from the list of application pools and then click on the Basic Settings… action in the right menu.
13.Set the .NET Framework version to .NET Framework v2.0.50727 and then click OK.
14.Run the SharePoint 2010 installer by typing the following at the command prompt: c:\SharePointFiles\Setup.exe
15.Accept the Microsoft Software License Terms
16.On the Choose the installation you want page, click Standalone to install everything on the developer workstation.
17.After the SharePoint files are installed you will be presented with the option to run the SharePoint Products and Technologies
Configuration Wizard. You should allow this to run. If you do not
run the Wizard now you can run it at a later time. The SharePoint
installation is not completed until the Wizard is run.
18.One the configuration Wizard completes you will see your new SharePoint 2010 Site.
Note: SharePoint 2010 Only works with
application pools that are set to version 2 of the .NET framework. If
any of the application pools used by SharePoint are set to anything
else you will receive an error during the SharePoint 2010 Products and
Configuration Wizard. You can return to IIS manager and review the
application pool settings at any time. If the wizard fails due to the
wrong .NET version you can modify the application pool and then
restart the wizard.
http://blog.mikehacker.net/2012/06/13/sharepoint-2010-development-environment-on-windows-8-rp/
or have it running on windows server on vm
or have it on windows 8 as the link suggests :)
its upto you but from experience i would highly recommend vm for many many reasons!
hope it helps :)
