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I am currently running Windows 7. I want to install the latest Ubuntu ( which I know I can just install right on top of &) but I also want to install FreeBSD and either Windows Server 2003 (maybe 2008 if I can get my hands on it). What would be the best way to go about installing these 3 operating systems next to Windows 7?

I was also thinking about just upgrading my hard drive to a 2TB internal anyways, so waiting to get that is also an option, then installing everything in the "best" order. Is this a good idea?

I also want to try installing Mac OS X sometime too once I upgrade hardware.

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Tyler, if your using these to "Play with" I'm not sure installing these on separate physical partitions is a good idea. You should look into either using VHDs(Virtual Hard Drives) to boot off or using visualization. If you have Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate, Windows Virtual PC is built in or free to add on!

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+1 Virtualization would be much easier and less risky. Also try VirtualBox – madmaze Jan 20 '11 at 15:54
Yea, i thought about using a VM. I had started working on getting Sun Virtualbox running but ran into some snag and forgot about it heh. The thing is that Unix ( and server i guess) would be my play with OSs but since i dont use windows only programs to frequently, I am going to change my primary OS to the new Ubuntu. Sounds like installing ubuntu and using a VM for the other 2 is the way to go. Thanks for bringing that back up. completely forgot about VMs lol. – Tyler Jan 20 '11 at 15:55
For ubuntu you can use VirtualBox as madmaze said, it's free and easy to use! – Jeff F. Jan 20 '11 at 15:57
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Do all the windows partitions first and then ubuntu/freebsd.

Ubuntu and Freebsd know how to talk to grub, which will most likely be your bootloader, and windows cant talk to it.

Also wait until you get your drive, and try it all out on the new drive so you dont loose your data. It may take a try or two to get it right.

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