Leopard Primary Drive Partition Setup

Hi..
I am about to purchase an IMAC, As the hard drive is huge I am keen to partition it. I mainly want to create an OS partition (for OS and Virtual memory/swap space etc) and then a second one that has the applications and data etc.
This will allow me to back up the OS partition separately from the Apps and Data and the OS partition would be smaller.
As I am new to the MAC world I was wondering what the recommended (and the minimum) size for the OS partition should be.
I am also intending issing VM Fusion for other "OS" systems (ala Windows) and don't intend using BootCamp.
Anyway.. any advice would be appreciated.
NewBee MAC user (about to buy my first MAC)
KiwiComposer
Wellington, NZ
ps. shame IMAC doesn't allow a second physical drive if it had I would probably have set up a solid sate drive for the OS/swap space and put my data etc on the other normal hard drive but Oh well that is life..

Since you're a newcomer to the Mac, start with these:
Switching from Windows to Mac OS X,
Basic Tutorials on using a Mac,
MacFixIt Tutorials, and
MacTips Learning Centre.
Additionally, *Texas Mac Man* recommends:
Quick Assist.
Welcome to the Switch To A Mac Guides, and
A guide for switching to a Mac.
As for partitioning, note that Leopard's Disk Utility allows you to repartition without erasing. I broke my iMac's HD into seven partitions. But I do a lot of beta testing, so have multiple bootable OSs. While you're trying to develop your strategy, get a bootable, external HD (preferably FireWire), and make a bootable backup/clone before partitioning and ensure that it's bootable and works like the original. That allows you to revert to the previous good state without having to reinstall anything. It also allows you to have a space for Time Machine and other bootable backups/clones. See these for details:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html

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Install Snow Leopard Onto An External USB Hard Drive | Maciverse
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Message was edited by: bLux-art

bLux-art wrote:
My specs meet the requirements of the OS, by the way…
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