[wplug] Question on dual boot / shared media space

[Vanco, Donald]

Hi all -
	Looking for thoughts on a project I have underway.

	I'm building a "portable" that will allow users to boot to either
Windoze or Linux and rip vinyl to CD in .WAV and .MP3 format.  Eventually,
this device will also be a mobile WiFi point and hella jukebox / game
server.  
	For those already gnashing their teeth - _I_ fully plan to do
everything from command line under Linux, but this device is going to be a
"loaner" that friends / family can use WITHOUT me doing it for them - and
Windoze just has some tools that are far more simple (and far more familiar)
for a large percentage of the populace to use.  
	
	It will have a large hard drive.  Each of the operating systems will
occupy a small portion of the total space, the balance will be "shared"
between the 2 operating systems (if it's not obvious, only one OS will
access the shared storage at any one time).  Both operating systems will
need to read and write, and I don't know that a concept of perms is critical
for this application

Questions:
	- what filesystem should I use for the shared space?
	I'd like to use NTFS for performance under Windoze, but have
concerns about write support under Linux.  Does anyone have any real-world
experience, or a clear understanding of what the real (Linux) concerns here
are all aboot?
	I know there's some tools for Windoze to read EXT2 - but is there
anything that can write (and runs in the background so an application can
take advantage of it)?
	If I have to use a FAT32 filesystem are there any real concerns?
	
	- I've not installed a dual-boot system in a while, but past
experiences always found me wishing I had done the initial set-up in a
different manner.  Thoughts?
	My initial thought is something like:
Install Windoze in 3GB space
Boot Windoze and create large shared space
Install Linux in back half of the drive, utilizing GRUB as bootloader


	So - looking for input from those of you that still dual boot.

Don

If anyone cares - details on hardware:
DAK "LPs To CD-Rs Mixer/Pre-amp"
Shuttle SB61G2 small form factor system
Intel Pentium4 Hyperthreading 2.4GHz 
Kingston PC3200 DDR400 256MB times two
Seagate Barracuda 120GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer Hard Drive
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 
PowerColor XR38-C3L ATI R9800 128MB DDR 8X AGP Video Card 
Optorite DD0203 DVD ReWritable 
USB Floppy, Keyboard, and mouse (wireless)