This is I think really generic stuff. But I am not sure..

I will I am sure be happy to use Linux for most things, but whilst I am getting used to it would like dual boot setups with my windows xp install.
My kids play some games etc so until I get used to something like Wine, dual boot it must be. I also want to be able to share the docs on Xp, to make things easier. I have a stack of mp3s, oggs, photos etc that are sitting in the "my Documents" folder on XP (actually a separate partition).

What I want to know is - before I attempt to install Linux (hopefully Fedora 5 but possibly ubuntu), do I have to create a linux partition, or will the setup do that for me. I am quite happy to do it, using something like partition magic. Would I also choose Exft2? I think if the partition was there already it would be safer....

Secondly - can I setup linux so that it can share the documents I have (currently on a FAT32) on my windows install? I need to be able to read and write from both systems.

If someone can point me in the right direction I would be very grateful.....

Different distros handle the setup differently. I think most current distros will allow you to set up partitions during installation, but you would do no harm by setting them up ahead of time. Defining the partitions and putting particular file systems on them are two separate steps and I would just let the installer handle the latter. In addition to 1 or more partitions for your Linux files, you will also want to set up a Linux swap partition. For your Linux files, you will probably want ext3 or one of the other journaling file systems rather than ext2. If you can find any installation documentation on the distro you plan to install, I would study it first until you feel comfortable with what your are about to do.

Linux can easily both read and write to FAT 32 file systems. It is a little trickier for NTFS file systems.

Good luck.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-General and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.