I am wondering is it possible to have linux gentoo and Xp on the same computer with XP as my mine, i wanna have XP for just regular stuff but i also want to use linux for programming

Yes, just setup your boot loader usually either Lilo or grub to be directed to the right hard drive sector.

In the section of the Gentoo handbook about setting up the bootloader, there is an explanation on how to do this. As percent20 said, you simply point the bootloader (most likely GRUB) to the partition containing Windows.

im still generally confused about setting it up now i know what to do here (ill probally get a book on linux or some shit like that the handbook, which i have read assumes a bit more knowledge tehn i have)

I hope for you not to take this as an insult, but if you're not really knowledgeable on Linux, might another distro, like Debian, be more your speed? It's got tons of packages available, and it's pretty good about auto-configuring things, but still giving you the power to modify things as you see fit.

well im gonna use the gentoo package that is preset up so it will be a little less but ive read the gentoo handbook 3 times but ill look into other distros maybe

Should definetly check out the Gentoo Forums. If you ever have a problem, someone can usually help you fix it with in a day or two. These forums are yet another reason I like Gentoo over other distros I have tried.

u can have that for that u need to set the option at the time of instaling linux

I Have to disagree ...

y ........ u said this