I'm new to Linux, and I'm going to partition a 160GB hard drive to install Linux on. I've downloaded and burned Debian ISOs, but I may not go with that distro first, as I've heard it's more difficult to configure than most. Anyway, I'm wondering if it'd be possible for me to divide up the drive into four 40-gig partitions and try out four distros, say Slackware, FC, Debian and Mandrake, at the same time. I currently have windows installed on a separate 80-gig drive.

Since I'm totally new to Linux, I'm just following instructions for installation on various web sites, but none seem to discuss the possibility of having more than 2 OSes on one comp. Any advice?

Welcome to LQ.

You certainly can do it. Just don't install the bootloader onto the mbr when you install the last 3 distros. Then configure the first to chain boot the other 3 as well.