One other piece of advice I can give is if you want to try linux, download a 'CD version' of it. Many flavors, including Ubuntu have a version that will run from a CD-ROM so you can try it out and see what you think -- it's a basic linux filesystem with X-Windows and so forth - it will be generic, made to run on many machines, so some 'enhanced' features won't be there - but the basics will be. If you want to go further, obtain a copy of VMWare and create a 'virtual machine' -- then you can download a full copy of Linux to a DVD, install it into your VM and play/learn till you are comfortable. Once you have the knack for it, then you can decide if you want to abandon Windows entirely.
VMWare had a version called VMWare Player - which would allow you to download a 'VM file' that had linux or any other OS installed on it to try. You just can't create new VM files without the full VMWare.
If you try to get a copy of this VMWare online, through P2P, be sure to scan the archive both before and after you unpack it before you run the installer -- a lot of times when getting popular apps online, they are packed with a virus or trojan inside the archive somewhere. Had that happen with a copy of Registry Mechanic once - wanted a utility and got a rootkit at the same time... One of the prices you pay when you don't want to pay... Since then I've gone for the full paid version and so forth...
Anyways -- good luck... and for what it's worth, I can do remote-assistance on damaged/hijacked Windows systems as well. I also do managed server maintenance and so on...