I am currently having a little experiment with Ubuntu, supported by my fellow PN forum users. Here is where I have got so far:
Vista Basic laptop (Fujitsu). Have installed Ubuntu on the 11GB empty partition using wubi and it is now dual booting and working fine.
Internet access wired - can't use it wirelessly as there is a driver problem. Someone sent a link about this - something about a wrapper but don't want to go down this route as it can be problematical and in any case I will eventually have to remove the installation as there is not much space left to do much with it (updates, documents, photos etcetera).
I had toyed with the idea of buying a used laptop just for Linux but have been told that an external hard disk would do the job so am currently investigating purchasing one of these. I like the idea of having the OS separate from Windows.
Am finding my way around Ubuntu and have set up Evolution OK. It's a steep learning curve.
Have looked at some of the tutorials above and will check them out again.
Have joined the Ubuntu forum, had lots of advice from PN users, but would appreciate any help or advice, particularly in respect of uninstalling it from Vista and in re-setting it up (without using wubi) on an external drive (am not really techie but just interested).