GNU Parted vs. fips

[Clyde Boom]

Hi -

I'm relatively new to Linux and I am using Red Hat Linux (RHL) 7.3.

To create space for Linux on a Windows partition, the RHL manuals 
suggest using fips to split a Windows partition into two parts.  A 
recent (Aug. 2002) promotional email from Red Hat had a link to their 
site for tips on creating space for Linux and this also suggested using 
fips.  To do this, I need to defragment my hard disk, create a boot 
disk, put fips on it, boot with it, run the program, split the 
partition, and then use another utility to delete the "second" partition.

To use parted, you simply boot with the RHL CD, go into "Rescue Mode" by 
typing "linux rescue" at the "boot:" prompt, run parted and run the 
resize command.

The documentation for parted states that you do not need to defragment 
your hard disk prior to using the utility and that data is automatically 
moved if necessary.

Does parted automatically move a Wnidows swap file if necessary.

The last time fips was revised was in 1998 and the last time parted was 
revised was in 2002.

I do not understand why the RHL manuals and other documentation (and 
other books) suggest using fips rather than parted.

Is fips more reliable than parted or has the parted utility been overlooked?

I have been able to get parted to reduce the size of a Windows Primary 
partition and a Windows Logical partition (in an Extended partition). 
fips can not split an Extended partition (a Logical partition in an 
Extended partition).

Does parted work over the long term or are there problems when the 
Windows partition becomes full?

fips and parted do not currently work on partitions that have the 
filesystem type of NTFS.

Could you please give me an idea as to when parted will work on NTFS 
partitions.

I will greatly appreciate any comments that you may have on this situation.

Thanks, Clyde.