If you are dual-booting, some extra factors must be considered. NTFS, which
is the default file system that Windows uses, is not very well supported outside
of Windows. Only recently has NFTS-3g reached a usable stage, with users
reporting no data corruption or loss during ordinary use of the latest versions
of the driver, providing GNU/Linux users with a reliable way to read and write
NTFS partitions. Previously only read support was safe, and this may still be
the case for many distributions. However, NTFS does have some advantages
over FAT32, in that a 4GB file size limit no longer exists. Likewise, Windows
has no support for any of the standard GNU/Linux file systems. If you are
going to be switching between the two frequently, then it might still be in your
best interest to create a FAT32 partition for both operating systems to use.
When it comes the time to partition the hard disk(s), remember to leave
space for GNU/Linux (a good amount is on the order of a third of your total
hard disk space). You may want to have a spare FAT32 partition (of around
1 third of your disk space) on which to share documents between Windows
and GNU/Linux. You should also modify the partition table as necessary—
you may not need as much space for Windows or you may need more in your
FAT32 transfer area. But you must ensure that you leave at least 3GB for
your Windows installation, since the standard installation of Windows takes up
about 2 GB of hard drive space, and it is always wise to leave a bit extra on, to
allow for any changes that may occur.