Hard Drive Partitioning

I have a dumb question. :confused:

Anyways, what exactly is Hard Drive Partitioning. Does it mean, you split it in half? And tell me (please) if this is possible. If I were to get a new 160 GB HD for my birthday :D could I split it in half so one half ran Mandrake Linux and the other ran Windows XP. And if I did, how would I know wich I would boot? Thanks

heya .. just a quick tip ... dont post the same Thread twice... i can see negative points rolling in for ya ... you better delete this one :)...

OOhh.. Sorry i Didnt Realize I Double Posted. SORRY SORRY. I dont know how to delete them...