Different Linux versions within different Linux distributions?
 

Alright... From my understanding there are different distributions of Linux. I've seen Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Fedora the list goes on... When I try to choose which distribution I want to test, I run into the problem of having to choose which version I want to use. I just want to know what the differences are between the different versions I keep running across. Examples would be KDE, XFCE, GNOME, Mate, Cinnamon, LXDE... I ask because I cannot find any information about these different versions, and I don't know what separates them from each other (I mean KDE from XFCE in the same distribution). I am assuming that some of these, like KDE, share similarities between distributions since I have seen KDE in multiple distributions, Mint, Debian, Fedora...

KDE, Gnome, Xfce, LXDE, etc. are "desktop environments" or "skins."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment

Most distros have screenshots of the different versions on their website.

So you can do the same things in all of them, just in a different manner? Like performing the same task in two different versions of Windows?

Most applications (Firefox, LibreOffice, Skype, etc.) will run in any desktop environment. You can even have 2 (or more) DE's installed over the same base OS, and choose between them depending on your mood that day. :)

Alrighty then, I'll just test a few of them out and see which ones I prefer. I figured they had different versions for different functionality options or soomething...

You'll have different window decorations, panels, configuration tools, maybe dedicated applications like web browsers or office suites (which you can run within another desktop environment as well) but, beside these differences, the operating system will remain the same and you can do the same things.

No, because the operating system doesn't change, whereas different versions of Windows mean different operating systems. Linux is freedom of choice, so you can choose the graphical interface(s) you prefer, on the same system: a desktop environment is just a graphical context with dedicated tools and, sometimes, applications.

I would add a small addendum to Philip's post to say that whilst with Windows the norm is for not only the desktop to change but also the underlying OS, you can consider KDE, Gnome and so on
to be similar to a Windows XP desktop compared to the Aero desktop of Windows 7. So ultimately it is a look and feel of how you see and interact with different parts of the OS which
will generally be the same for distributions at the same age.

Thank you (this was more helpful in my opinion than the above,shuuuuu...)

In addition to the above, I would also like to suggest that you start out with the default desktop environment for whatever distribution you choose (Unity for Ubuntu, Cinnamon for Mint, KDE for OpenSUSE, Gnome2 for Debian/CentOS, Gnome3 for Fedora, etc.). Once you have it up and running, installing and switching to other desktop environments is trivially easy. For example, once you have OpenSUSE up and running on KDE, installing XFCE is just a one-liner:
Once it's done, just log out and then log back in with the XFCE DE.

The reason I'm suggesting this is because sometimes you can run into dependency problems if you ONLY install the lesser-known and lesser-used DE. Usually this can be avoided if you start out with the primary DE, and then install the other one on top of it. The primary DE will include all of the libraries and utilities that the other DE really needs, but doesn't necessarily come with or report to the package manager that it needs.

Note that the different "versions" you download off of the website are only split up that way to fit onto the CD version of the ISO. If you download the DVD ISO it will usually include all of them and you can select which one(s) you want to install during the OS installation.