tri-booting widows xp pro, suse10.1, mandriva 2006
 

Is there any one who can give me detailed instructions on how to set this up?

This is one of the most common questions here. Search on "dual-boot" or just "boot", and you'll get more than you wanted to know...;)
What is your configuration? # and size of hard drives, etc.

My ideal setup: 1 drive for all of the OSes and their applications. #2 drive--FAT32--for data.

The standard drill:
1. install windows on a 15-20GB partition. Leave the rest of the disk(s) unpartitioned.
2. install Linux #1:
During install, give linux a total of ~15GB--leave the rest unpartitioned
When it comes to installing the bootloader, put it on a floppy. This way, Windows will still boot if you have a problem. You can alway put the boot loader on the mbr later.

3. Once the system is working correctly with Windows + Linux #2, then install #2:
Do not install a boot loader
After install, reboot into Linux #1
Mount the partition containing #2, and go into /boot and find the name of #2's kernel and initrd.
Go back to /boot for #1 and find the bootloader config file. (eg for grub, it is usually /boot/grub/menu.lst) Add an entry to this file to point to Linux #2. The details of this will depend on your configuration.

The best approach will be to get Windows + 1 Linux working, and then study a bit to be sure you know how the bootloader configuration file is set up. Then, changing it for #2 will be easy.

well thank you for the post i am going to try it tomorrow. i am hopeing that i can figure it out thanx for the idea.