I am new to linux and have installed red hat 8.0 but i can't get to the internet i have road runner currently installed using a usb driver but i also have a linksys LNE 100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapter. Any ideas how to get this to work

Its easier to use the Ethernet card. Basically your card will use the tulip module to work properly. Before connecting to your ethernet from the cable modem, be sure to reset your modem by unplugging it for about a minute so it recognizes your new MAC address.
Then when booted into Redhat, just run netconfig and set it to attain a IP via DHCP as then it should probe for your ethernet card, detecting it to use the tulip module.

Then from there you should be able to connect, but its also sometimes a good idea to go ahead and add your ISP's DNS server entries in /etc/resolv.conf in this format:

nameserver {ip address}
nameserver {secondary ip address}

If you run into any other problems, questions feel free to post them.

thanks got the internet to work now for my wife i need a program to work similar to outlook express.

There are several out there, might want to look into using Evolution from www.ximian.com
There are some others like Kmail (if you use KDE), Sylpheed, but Evolution is really easy to use, clean interface. I'd recommend it over some of the others, but I'll let you decide that if you try any others out.