you could just order the cd if you don't want to do it yourself

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu

You have to burn the iso file.

It will format the partition for you.....

You can mount ubuntu to use the Wubi installer. This will let you run ubuntu inside of Windows, ala Windows in Parallels on Mac.

Burning/Rebooting will set ubuntu as a primary operating system, as Windows is now. The built in partitioner in ubuntu handles resizing pretty well, just defrag before you do to make sure nothing gets overwritten. There's a graphical slide bar that you can use to adjust percentages of space. It will set up /, /swap, and /home for you automatically if you choose not to do it yourself.

For those on ubuntu, I'm about to install it on a partition.

Right now I'm on XP. logged in to XP, can I mount the ubuntu iso on a virtual drive and run the installation from the drive or do I have to burn it, shutdown, and boot from the cd to install on the partition I want from there?

also will ubuntu format the partition for me, or should I do that myself before installation?

thanks!!

thanks!!