Fully Managed: they update for you (kind of cool but it'll cost more)
OS: CentOS or a RedHat Derivitave, updates will be simple with use of "yum"
Control Panel: Yeh, CPAnel is nice and easy, but it's not free, and your price will reflect this. It also uses a lot of resources. Webmin with Virtualmin installed is free
RAM: I'm fairly small and easily max out 356MB; though a 1GB swap keeps me in check
