Why? So PartitionMagic can split it 25GB/1GB/2GB/12GB, or Windows, Root, Swap, Linux. I'm sick of this crappy operating system, but I've got too much software I can't do without that runs only under Winduh. So a split it is.
So this is a general-purpose "Any advice?" I suspect that a nonzero number of you are familliar with getting Linux installed onto a computer. I tried it once before, years ago, on a different computer, and it never did get going correctly; I got frustrated with it. But now that I've worked with properly-configured Linux in the computer labs at Washington University, I know how well it's supposed to work- and, in short, I want one...