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A computer with a single hard disk can support multiple operating systems, but not in the same space on that disk. When you install your system, you have the choice of using all the space on your hard disk for a single operating system or dividing the hard disk into a maximum of four segments, called ``partitions.'' Each partition holds a separate operating system. Thus, for example, you can have three UNIX system partitions and one DOS partition. When you install UnixWare on a new machine, the default partitioning scheme is one partition which uses 100% of the disk.
The UnixWare partition of a hard disk is further subdivided into ``slices.'' Slices define filesystems, swap area(s), and dump partitions. The two slices of interest to the boot procedure are the boot and stand slices.