[viral_krieger]

I think Qubes OS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubes_OS) does something similar to what you're looking for. You can set it up so when you login your "qube" (The virtual machine you're currently using) is a normal looking operating system that doesn't have access to any of your protected files. You can then load up your protected files and programs by starting another password protected "qube", which is similar to starting another VM.

[stryk]

This looks very, very interesting. I'll have a deeper look into Qubes this weekend for sure. I wonder how good their repos are in terms of up-to-date packages and software