Help Required

Hi

I have a p3 machine with dual boot win 98 and win xp. I wish to install linux in my machine.

Which version of linux is latest and which one one is the most appropriate?

How will i be able to make a dual or rather multiboot system so as to select the os with installation of linux without affecting the current operating systems?

I also know that i will have to make a seperate partition for linux but want to know when i uninstall it how can i merge the partition?

What is the minimum amount of partition space required for linux and what is the most appropriate one to form a partition?

Thanx