Questions[bootloader](ubuntu)

I'm trying to dual boot Ubuntu alongside Windows on my laptop. I already know how to install it. A tutorial that I watched recommended selecting the Something else option of the Installation type screen of the Ubuntu installer rather than installing Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager.

I'm confused about what are the pros and cons of the Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager option. I created a partition in my hard drive. I want to install Ubuntu in the other partition, but I want also to choose the Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager option. Is this possible, and is it safe to choose that option?

Where is the boot loader, such as Grub, installed generally?

When I install 12.04 along side Windows on different partitions of my disk, I encountered a choice for "Device for boot loader installation". If I understand it correctly, it is to specify where to install the boot loader Grub,

I found on the internet that it is to specify the disk that contains the partitions for the OS, not any partition on the disk. E.g. disk sda, not partition sda1, sda2.

Questions:

I wonder where the boot loader installed actually on the disk?

Is it installed on any of the existing partitions for the OSes and for personal data, or does it have its own partition, which is also visible e.g. from system monitor of Ubuntu?

Thanks and regards!

I am trying to install Ubuntu 12.04 by creating a USB Boot Disk. I am using a 500 GB External Hard-drive ("Elements"). I get through the first part of using the start-up disk creator. I select Ubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" as the ISO, and my external hard-drive, which has 150 GB free, as the disc to use. I hit "Make Startup Disc". It asks me for authentication before I can copy files, and that part works. Then after copying files, it asks for authentication again to install the boot loader. At this point, it immediately says "Failed to install the bootloader." Any idea why I am having a problem?

I know Grub is the one installed by default when installing Ubuntu but I am faced with an embedded system running 9.10 Desktop Edition. Following are the contents of lsb-release file

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/boot$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=9.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=karmic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 9.10"

but this system does not have Grub bootloader and I want to find out which one its using. So any ideas?

BURG looks a lot better and user friendly than GRUB, at the same time it get the job done.

Why Ubuntu have not switched to it?