New and in need of help.

[Anna Schneider]

Hi everyone.  My name is Anna Schneider and I just signed on to this list.  
I'm on the blinux-newbie list too.  I am planning to buy a new computer, 
my first in several years, soon and I want to go Linux but I don't 
actually know much about how to go about this.  What I do know is I hate 
windows and voice output for windows.  I have a lot of questions though, 
some of which may seem very silly, but I don't know where else to ask.  My 
attempts to get help on the other list seem to have petered out and I'm 
not sure why.

I am fairly sure of my specific needs in a system t this point, I just 
don't know of how to go about investigating those needs.  I also need to 
be referred to some basic documentation or a Linux dictionary or something 
because I don't know the terminology.  For example, what is a kernel?

If anyone here has the time and is willing to walk me through this 
process, I would really really appreciate it.  I will probably be starting 
a small business soon too which is one reason why getting this taken care 
of is an imperative.

Thank you very much.

Anna