Description of problem: As noted in PC World, "Most Linux newcomers have a Windows installation on their drive already, usually in a partition that takes up the whole drive. The Fedora installer, however, can choose only to ignore that partition or remove it, whereas other distributions (including OpenSuse and, yes, Ubuntu) can shrink the Windows partition and free up space for Linux, leaving you with a machine that can boot into either OS. The Fedora installer has almost none of these smarts." Some potential Linux users don't know if they're ready for the full plunge into Linux use... the initial install is likely to be their first use, and they're unlikely to be willing to completely commit to using something they haven't used for a long time. Making it possible to resize Windows and keep it will make it easier to take the plunge gradually, resulting in more users. Since this functionality exists in other FLOSS installers, this shouldn't be hard to do. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): Fedora 7. How reproducible: Start with a system that has a Windows partition and no free space, and try to install Fedora. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Have system with only Windows partition. 2. Boot any Fedora installer. Actual results: No help in resizing Windows partition to make room for Fedora. Expected results: Aid resize of Windows. Additional info: See Fedora 7 review here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,133307-c,linux/article.html
FutureFeature request! Oops, sorry, I forgot to include that in the report - this is obviously a feature request, not a failure to work as intended. Anaconda may not be the right destination, but I wasn't sure where else to put it.
A caveat is that some Windows machines, for example Dells, come with a fairly complex partitioning scheme. My Dell desktop came with 4 primary partitions - a utility partition, a main Windows partition, a Ghost partition, and a Restore partition. I ended up using GParted to delete the last two and shrink the main Windows partition, and then reinstall from the Windows CD which I had spent an extra $10 to obtain (which has the nice side effect of getting rid of the crapware), before installing Fedora.
A start would be putting GParted on the install and live CDs, and then detecting if a few common "simple" cases are true. If it's complicated, at least GParted can do it.
anaconda will have support for partition resizing (including Windows partitions) in F9. Thanks for your patience. I encourage you to try F9 Alpha or any of the other test releases if possible to help us make sure this stuff actually works.
Great news! I think that will mean that many more people will try out Fedora.