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I agree:
Back-up, back-up, back-up!
Read, read, read before you start!
I'd also start with using an additional small drive for toying with linux. Re-partitioning a drive with an existing OS can lead to particular errors that are way beyond the scope of most users. I also agree that Partition Magic has lost its luster. I dual-boot, but I back up everything, write zeros to the entire disk, and repartition with blank partitions, thus reinstalling the operating systems -- Windows first (oldest versions first, then newer) and then linux, and I use GRUB as the boot manager for Windows and linux.
If any of this seems foreign, it may be a good sign that you need to tread very carefully as you attempt this!
A great way to experience linux safely is with a live CD, a bootable version of linux on a CD. Knoppix is a famous one, but now there are many others such as Gentoo and PCLinux that provide bootable CD images that decompress from the CD. You can save data to an existing folder on your HDD, and access your data from that drive as well (I'm thinking MP3's, etc, or even Office documents that can be opened with OpenOffice. However, I'd save new copies of whatever you change while in linux, treating the originals as read-only
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less I say, smarter I am
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