disk partitioning for Ubuntu 8.1

[Ray Leventhal]

Hi all,

I'm not new to Linux, as I run RHEL5 and CentOS on my servers, but I'm a 
new convert to desktop Linux and have truly been amazed by the ease of 
installation of Ubuntu on my Dell 9400/E1705.  When using other distros, 
I've had to set aside hours to get things like WiFi, Sound and Screen 
resolution running right.  Needless to say I'm very impressed with 
Ubuntu so far!  Installing on a fresh HDD was seamless and easy.

On to my question.  I've googled a bunch but haven't yet seen a 
preferred disk layout for Ubuntu.  My situation is this:

M$WinDoze on first half of my drive, NTFS

I've an unallocated 80GB segment on which I'd like to install Ubuntu. 
 From what I can see, I need to manually create the partitions using 
gparted from the LiveCD portion of the 8.1 distribution media.  If I can 
do this in an automated fashion, I'd love a pointer in the right direction.

If it does need to be done manually, given a 2GB memory system, I'd be 
inclined to create a 4GB linux-swap partition, but am not sure (as I've 
come from the RH camp) if there's a preferred / and /boot paradigm.

Any pointers or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
-Ray