Hi Sam,
I must have a look at this booklet when I get home.
I've just taken the plunge and had a quick look for the first time at Ubuntu 10.8, running it from a CD. It managed to find the extra external hard drives I have and I took a look at some pics I had loaded on XP.
I had a click around to familiarise myself with the layout.
Linking to the Internet seems a complicated affair, but I suppose if I make a list of stuff I need to find out I'll do it eventually, and I didn't get any sound.
As I understand LINUX as a complete novice, it may take a bit of time to get it set up as I like it, but then that's it, I suppose. You don't need to touch it again unless you want to add to the functions.
Martin