Would it be better to go with a Linux only system compared to a dual boot Linux/Windows? Can the OSs interfere when you have a dual boot system?

I hear mutterings that WinXP might not like a linux bootloader in the MBR if windows is the first drive.
Everything works great here with Win98, and Mdk9.1 x2 on a second drive.

i was running debian 3.0 and win 98 and i never encountered an error

As the old folk-saying goes:

"Man with dual boot walk easy"

"Man with single boot always hopping"

If6was9

If set up correctly the OS's won't interfere in a negative way.

The key to a succesful dual boot is to install Windows 1st then Linux 2nd - install either LILO or GRUB to the MBR - If the Linux distribution doesnt automatically configure the bootloader for Windows its a simple matter of adding an entry for Windows in the Linux bootloader.

because i'm a HUGE linux noob, i installed linux 1st and windows 2nd because i didn;t really know how to install linux and if i messed up, i wouldn't have to worry about it. but so far(5-6 days i believe), i'm running both without a problem (GRUB) XP doesn;t seem to care that i'm running a linux bootloader.

how long does it take for the problems to start(with xp)? a few months? or weeks?

xp doesn't seem to care, and i've got 3 linux and xp, with lilo. no problems there

I installed Mandrake Linux 9.1 already on a Dell Inspiron 2650 (came with Windows XP). I tried putting Windows 98 on the hard drive (another 8 GB hard drive) before that and found that the Windows XP drivers don't work with it. I tried downloading various Windows 98 video drivers, but couldn't find one that worked. After a couple months I decided to try putting Linux on it (removed Windows by reformatting the hard drive). So far it seems to have been succesful. The video and sound works OK. There's no battery monitor. I found some things searching on the internet about using the command line to read the battery level. I haven't tried that yet, though. There's nVidia drivers already on the Mandrake Linux CDs which seemed to have been automatically installed. The Inspiron 2650 I have has a GeForce 2 Go video system in it. I might try putting Linux on a desktop, too, which has Windows 98SE on it already (ie. dual boot). I have a US Robotics model 0701 56k external modem which should work with Linux if I can't find an internal modem that works with it.

If having LILO/GRUB on the MBR worries you, you can just use NTLDR (Windows' Boot Loader) instead.

I love this tutorial the best:

http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00011.asp

I use this method with WinXP and Gentoo and it's fine.