Windows refugee questions...

[David B Teague]

I am a Windows refugee. I used and managed Unix 5.x and Linux in the 
early 90s (Slackware and Debian 1.x). For 5 or 6 years I have used only 
XP from the University  where the license allowed us to use the 
University's corporate version at home. I had Libranet but I never got 
the hang of it because I was too damn busy with my University teaching 
job, and I was able to do my job using Windows. I  retired and would 
like to put Linux on my machine(s). Ubuntu Linux. 

OK. Questions:

1) If I understand correctly, Nautilus is a "Windows Explorer" for 
Linux.  Is there a document I can download or a book I can buy  that 
tells me how to do the things I do with Windows? (I do use OO.o, 
Thunderbird, and Firefox, so that part will be easy.)

My system has a Radeon 9200 AGP video, ViewSonic 17 inch flat monitor, 
Sempron 2800 processor, 1 GB  333 MHz RAM, and two 80 GB drives, Verizon 
DSL with a Westel 327W modem/router and with the hardware firewall enabled.

2) Shouldn't that run Ubuntu or Kubuntu at a speed as fast as it does XP?

3) What do I tell the Ubuntu installation about my IP number? I should 
be able to query Windows about the IP number it is using. I would guess 
I can use that. Can someone tell me how to do this? The bootable CD 
finds the internet automatically.

Warm Regards
David Teague