help with choosing install most likely to succeed under finicky raid setup

[bowlesbe]

Hello,

 

I'm a newbie and have been researching on the internet / forums all evening trying to figure out the best way to get Leopard on my computer. It seems that iDeneb 10.5.5 seems to be a reasonable choice? Although I chose the most recent one, my real concern is that it doesnt give me too much problems -- I am trying to avoid massive troubleshooting. I have a few questions.

 

setup;boot on 150GB digital raptor w XP; data on 2x500RAID1 setup, intel core 2 duo; asus p5b

 

If I make a new partition in partition magic how would I format it at that point (unformatted doenst seem to be an option)? I know that it has to be formatted again in disk utility with mac extended or whatever once you get that far.

 

Also, let's say I make my partition -- should I be able to pick that partition out in disk utility then after booting from disk and just have it install there? Everything i've read seems to suggest thats the way it works.

 

Finally, I have RAID 1, which adds further complication (I have to rearrange the SATA plugs etc) --- are there any further issues I should be aware of... I've taken a look at the sites specific to RAID, etc, just wondering if someone can give me a briefer about anything I should be aware of given that might not be obvious given I'm a newbie and have been researching all night and am a bit overwhelmed....

 

Finally, would it be massively easier if I just tried to install on an external hard drive than trying to make a new partition etc?

 

To start, I'm primarily trying to pick the path of least resistance given the fact I have RAID, etc.

 

I also have this long-distance goal of dual-booting with windows 7 that is available now... we'll see if that happens.

 

any tips would be highly appreciated.

 

Thanks so much in advance,

Ben