Hi ddmeltzer8 and welcome to LQ!
I see your other thread in Newbie and I feel that the responders there have offered some great suggestions. Hopefully those answers will help you.
I know it may be intimidating or you may be looking to accomplish nearly everything all in one batch, but try to be patient, it will pay off.
One thing many of us learn is that we'll "redo" far, far less once we've had to redo things a number of times. We learn to take a breath and think about what our next step is. For the Linux install choice, please listen to the various good responses you've received in that thread, I have the same thoughts as those other very capable LQ advice givers.
