This depends on the age of the kernel being used, the type of drive, and the software used to partition the drive. Older Linux systems had a limit of 63 partitions for IDE drives and 15 for SCSI. Kernels before around 2.6.28.5 that used libATA limited all drives to 15 partitions. Experimentation with more recent kernels indicates a limit around 130 partitions per drive. Many partitioning programs available for Linux are still limited to 63 partitions or less.
Not all Linux partitions are ext3. It just happens to be the most popular file system. ext3 was created especially for Linux, so it is free from any patent issues involved with some other file systems.
man fdisk
You can use a program called GParted to add, edit, and delete partitions.
Fdisk is a command that can be used in Linux to manage partitions. With this command one can view all disk partitions or delete partitions. For detailed information on step by step instruction for using this command one can access 'The Geek Stuff' website.
Volumes are storage areas, such as partitions and disks.
It should have the same limitations as any other operating system if you solely work with physical volumes - 4 primary partitions on MBR, unlimited on GPT (though Windows will limit it to 128). Otherwise, if you use something like LVM, it would be unlimited logical partitions, across a single disk or multiple disks.
It doesn't create anything automatically - it usually creates them based on how the user wants it to be configured. For the most part, you will have around 2-3 partitions for a basic "everything in one partition" setup (a /boot partition, optionally an ESP if you are using UEFI, and a root partition).
Insert your Windows CD or DVD and get to the part where it shows all your partitions and delete the Linux partitions. If you are unsure which one is your windows partition just make sure you don't delete or format any partition that is in the NTFS, or in the rare case a FAT32 format, as those would be your windows partitions.
The fsck command can be used to repair improperly shut down or potentially corrupt partitions on Linux systems. It checks the file system integrity and attempts to repair any inconsistencies it finds.
That is the "swap partition." It is a dedicated space on the hard disk that fulfills the "swap" feature of virtual memory in Linux.
Logical volumes do not have the same restrictions as physical volumes, regardless if it is created in Windows, Linux, MacOS, or any other operating system. The specific details of advantages of a LVM will be documented on their official project site.
four primary