want to load mandrake next to 98se

[mostwanted]

I have an old P2 machine with 98se. I am new to this Linux stuff. I am considering running mandrake to get started. My question is whether the mandrake software will leave my 98se alone and move it to it's own partition...so to speak. Or do I need to reinstall 98 later? I don't have the 98cdrom any longer and want to keep it around during my learning curve.
thanks

[MulderMan]

mandrake or any other linux wont do anything to your other operating systems unless you tell it to. speaking from an ease point of view it is easier to have windows installed first then linux after that. from then on when you are installing mandrake it will partition your drive into two and then format the non-windows partition with the linux ext2 file system, then go on to installing linux. if your like me and are still trying to learn linux i would say mandrake is the easiest and most user friendly.

[mostwanted]

how much space should I leave for windows? Or just half? Or does mandrake require alot of space?

[MulderMan]

2gb minimum, 5gb is better, and 10gb is reasonable. ofcourse if you have a decent hard drive you could always do it in half. it is up to you really on how much space you want to use, not mandrake, because you might not want to install word processing, image editing, internet browsers and server software etc. there is alot of software to choose from, after all there is 3 cd's full of it.

[mostwanted]

I bought a Red hat book this weekend at a huge book sale. It's a few years old because it comes with Red Hat 7.1 It is called: Linux Weekend crash course. I don't know about the weekend but a few hours in the evening for this week sounds reasonable.