WOW Thank you all for your replies, I have read them all and they have been very helpful. I have downloaded and installed Ubuntu and so far I like it. Had a little trouble trying to get the Broadcom Wireless card working, but there was lot's of support. Also had some trouble using the "adduser" command but found out the problem was with my folder permissions and had to chmod the temp folder to be written by a "group" I created. Fun stuff!!!

Thanks again!

Yeah. Linux takes some getting used to, and while you get to know it, you'll find that many tasks actually make you think of what they do and how to do them (unlike windows, where it's point and click.)  I'd agree with your findings, that Ubuntu is a good starting point, and as timmedin said, I definitely would take some time before moving up to Gentoo, etc.

Might even take some time, or spend the energy, and get yourself some study materials for Linux+, or for the LPI level 1 or 2 training, as you'll learn a lot about the inner workings of Linux, and how to do more advanced things, that you might want to dig in on.  (Such as iptables / ipchains, shadow passwords, etc.)

Good luck, and keep us posted as you progress, Thegmandrive.