Linux installation on Dell inspiron

[AceAll]

hey all,
I want to run linux and windows XP on my laptop. I was just wondering which Operating system to install first whether its Linux or windows XP.
Did anyone make a seperate bootable CD which has a good partition software running on it? If yes then let me know the name of the partitioning software which you have used. And also I would like to know which linux distro can get along with the windows XP without creating much hassel.

[truoc444]

It's easiest to Install XP first. during the install create a partition for XP to sit on (i use 10 Gig just because it's a nice round number and i raraly use xp anymore) after you have xp installed just pop in the linux distro of your choice http://distrowatch.com and it will prompt you to use the free space you left when you installed xp. most installers i've seen will automatically allocate the free space and you're up and running. It will ask you to install a bootloader either grub or lilo to the MBR go for it and once you finish the install reboot and you'll have a nice screen that lets you choose if you want to boot xp or the linux version you chose.