N00b needs help

First of all Linux is not Windows. Programs that are made to run under windows don't run under Linux, unless, there is a Linux compatible version, or, those Windows programs can be run under a Windows emulator called Wine.
If your new to Linux, the first thing you need to tell us is what you generally use your computer for. This is important, because, there are alternatives to Windows programs, that work just as well as their Windows counterparts, but are free and available in most Distributions repositories.
What Windows programs are you using now? We can tell you what the alternatives are, or, we can point you in the right direction.
What kind of hardware would you be installing Linux on? We can point you to some of the best distros to use for that hardware.

Give us some more info, and we'll be happy to help.

Games for Windows are problematic on Linux, everything else you use the computer for can be done quite well on Linux. While Winamp isn't available on Linux, apps like Audacious and xmms work well. There are many music apps on Linux, everyone seems to have favorites. I use Exaile and/or Amarok, and they perform well.
Browsing the Web with Chrome or Firefox is the same as on Windows, but way more secure.
Budget programs are abundant in Linux.
I haven't seen Dungeons and Dragons since its text based days, so I can't give you advice on that, but I can point you to the Wine website, where you can check out what Windows programs run under Wine with Linux.

Link to Wine:
http://www.winehq.org/

BTW - I've never used Wine, I've found Linux apps that work well, and they've totally replaced the Windows apps I used to use. There is a game called Nethack that I believe is similar to Dungeons and Dragons, I realize that some gamers like to stay with the game their used to, so I'm not going to say it will replace D & D.

Although, I've found this on WineHQ, see if it's the D & D your used too.
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=2910

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

winamp is a very basic audio player, xmms, audacious and vlc have very similar functions and user interfaces. In particular I would recommend trying out vlc on you current system (it works on all OSs) because it support way more codecs than any other player and can do streaming, it is very likely that it can easily replace winamp and become your favorite.

By what I have seen of dm secretary it appears to be a fairly simple program without calls to proprietary windows libraries, if that is the case then it should run without problems under wine.

As for your finances, you can use gnucash or kmymoney which are both very comparable to quicken, but there are several other options if you are not comfortable with them.

Basically if you are running a windows based system now that means you are running wither a 32-bit or 32-bit x86 system, in which most hardware is automatically detected under modern Linux based distros, so the hardware should not be an issue.

Yes that is correct

You can choose to install the new OS in new partition(s) or replace windows and take over the entire disk, the options are in the installer.

Panther wrote:

OK i made a disc but it wont launch

Did you burn the iso to disk (using a burn ISO option) or did you burn the ISO onto a data disk?

If you just placed the file onto a data disk it will not boot, you must burn the ISO (which is a archive of an entire disk) to the disk which will write the boot record and other necessary information.

If you are using a program like nero then the guide at http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2007/01/05/burning-dvd-iso-image-with-nero-express.html will help.

Do you know what kind of a wireless card your laptop has? If not try, in a terminal:

lspci | grep -i wire

And tell us the results. If no result try:

lsusb | grep -i wire

If still no results just try lspci or lsusb alone and see if you can locate the line that has the wireless information on it.

Once we know what kind of wireless card your using we'll be able tell you the next step.

Please share with us what kind of wireless card you are using and what drivers are installed. The issue may just be the stability or instability of the drivers in use. If the problem is with the drivers then you best option would be to file a bug report with the developers.

OK, if it works, don't fix it. Have fun, let us know how you make out.