Is dual-boot not an option? Or... if you're not allowed to do that, you could always use a live-cd or live-usb version of your favorite linux distro. Might run

Is dual-boot not an option? Or... if you're not allowed to do that, you could always use a live-cd or live-usb version of your favorite linux distro. Might run a bit a slower, but maybe a live-usb running off of a SSD drive with a thunderbolt connection would be fast enough.