First post. Hello all.

Am wanting to change from Windows to Linux, but as my username suggests, I am not an expert on computers. Never heard of Vector before filling out this questionnaire.
http://desktoplinuxathome.com/distro.html Vector was the resulting number one suggested distribution for me.
I am sick and tired of having to reload my OS every few months. Of losing my "favorites" list on my web browser. Of having to reload software. Of having to renew (and pay for) "anti" software programs to keep out the bad stuff. Of a whole bunch of other irritating things. Would love to throw my computer in the trash at times if it weren't so useful.
Currently reading
Moving to Linux Second Edition. Mr. Gagne's top home desktop suggestion (if he absolutely had to) was for Mandrake-now Mandriva. Have heard of that. Think I would like the KDE format from what little I've read so far.
I will have to retain a dual boot as my grandson has become addicted to Counter-Strike: Source in Half-Life 2. Am not familiar with partitioning.
Besides email and web surfing, I just purchased Xara Xtreme4 for working with my digital photos. I paid for a lifetime membership for downloading free music. (Well...not exactly free, but free after the inital payment.) BTW, I lost over 5200 songs on my last OS reload. A bummer. Now Ares Ultra doesn't want to work so no more music downloads lately, but that is another story.
Paid for satellite TV, but never been able to watch it. Will Vector allow me to?
Also have a CAD/CAM program I would like to reload. I think this will require Windows to run.
Am running a Gamer's Edge DualX Velocity Micro with Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor with dual core, 2GB DDR400 memory, nVidia GeForce 7800GT video card, Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 4 sound card, and 2 hard drives. A 74GB 10,000 RPM SATA and a 200GB 7200 RPM SATA for backup. Think this should be more than enough computer as we all know how bloated Windows has become.
Actually I had thought about investing in a second computer from here.
http://linpc.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2:pclinuxos-system&catid=3:newsflash&Itemid=60 Although the CPU is faster than my current system, I don't really know how the rest stacks up to what I already have. Nor do I know anything about their build quality. Very satisfied with my Velocity Micro. The Linux version used received a good review here.
http://www.raiden.net/?cat=2&aid=249 However it received a frown (meaning not good for me) from the suggested Linux flavor form I filled out at the first link I gave. My grandsons and daughter are why I am considering a second computer. Hard for me to get on this one when they are here.

It is all very confusing. Too many choices. Not enough knowledge. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.