Multiple partitions won't help if the drive goes bad.
With Apple's insistance that new HDDs in all their newer devices (*except the Mac Pro) are not user serviceable, no one should care about that because the new harddrive will be pre-loaded with an OS after you get it back from the Geniuses or AppleCare.
If you want to downvote, that's fine, but please provide an explanation. My comment was not derogatory, rude or against any of the HN guidelines.
Recent iMacs have been known to have their harddrive fans spin at full after a stock harddisk is replaced with an aftermarket replacement. Rumor is circulating that recent MacBook and MacBook Pro models are similar. Apple has hijacked some unused SATA wires to use for onboard temperature control on their branded drives. Unless you have access to genuine apple parts, any harddrive replacement on those models of computers won't work well.
Long story short: To Apple, Harddrives are not user servicable components, thus to Apple, "no one should care", because the computer will come back to the consumer after any repairs to a failed harddrive with a clean copy of the new OS.
I don't agree with that, but this is how things will be. I'm just a messenger with an opinion.
No downvotes from me. I've had two iMac HDDs die, lots of friends' too. My heart sunk when I found out about special temp sensor, I live a long way from any Apple repair centre.
As for Lion, it's anyone's guess whether we'll get a burnable/USBable DMG or not...
With Apple's insistance that new HDDs in all their newer devices (*except the Mac Pro) are not user serviceable, no one should care about that because the new harddrive will be pre-loaded with an OS after you get it back from the Geniuses or AppleCare.