Ho Ho.
Let me first say I don't care which one is better between Microsoft/Open Source, I simply want something that works and am aware of the concept of total cost of ownership.
The advantage of linux is that it is free.
Now, what do you do next.
Download the live CD of Ubuntu and run it on a machine you want to play with. See if it works and recognises all your hardware. If it doesn't then decide how much work you want to put into making it work as it might not be trivial. If you don't know computers I would recommend you put it away, go back to windows, and wait until the next live CD version comes out in a few months.
If it works then play away, it will not install on your system unless you tell it to. For office programs, there is a product called openoffice which you can download and run on your windows system. See if you like that. If it works for you then that's a plus as that is what you will be using if you go to linux.
My personal opinion is that to use linux you either need to be a hobbyist or a large organisation who can control their hardware and afford a linux person to make things work.
Linux can be totally frustrating and you never know when it is going to hit you. When you work out your hourly rate then it's not free at all. Of course if you are a hobbyist who likes these things then that doesn't matter, and in those cases you can get a pretty decent system up and running over which you have almost total control.
Depends if that is what you want.