There is really not much difference in VM performance between Linux and Windows host as the running of the VM is nearly bare-metal for the most part. The lines are a bit blurred for VMware Workstation as in some ways it isn't a strict definition of a type 2 hypervisor.
For hosts with an Intel CPU, Workstation uses what's called "VMX Operations" to take advantage of the VT-x/EPT features of the Intel CPU. It is not using an OS level API to execute the VM CPU requests; the virtual RAM is managed by EPT. Thus, the performance of the VM is more dependent on the CPU features than the host OS.
For a feature such as 3D acceleration, Workstation 15.x will use an OS level API. For Windows hosts, the default setting will use DX11 while Linux hosts default setting will use OpenGL to deliver the DX10.1/OpenGL 3.3 core profile capabilities inside the VM.
If possible, avoid using an old OS such as Windows 7/8 especially if the host CPU is newer than the OS. This rule of thumb applies for both guest and host OS. If possible enforce this rule of thumb on the host OS. The guest OS can be old (such as running a 32-bit XP VM) and that is the whole reason for having a VM but avoid using old OS if the VM use case is for something such as a code/development environment.
It would be better to use Windows 10 as a host OS. Linux hosts can bring headaches when compatibility issues rises due to kernel updates.
