KK or Midnight, could you guys give me some suggestions on the most important add-ons I should use? I haven't done that part yet. Just using the default installation right now.
AdBlock Plus with the EasyList USA filter is a must. You'll never see any ads of any type again. And no scripts will run which are ad-generated.
Cooliris is a great toy. It will change the way you view images and videos forever.
TV-Fox -- make your computer into a world TV. Get thousands of free TV channels from all over the world.
CoolPreviews -- preview any links without needing another tab and without clicking. Invaluable.
Ghostery -- Identifies and allows you to block 3rd parties that are hidden in the current page you're visiting. This includes ad networks, behavioral data and web analytics providers.
I don't recommend NoScript. You don't need it if you have Adblock and Ghostery.
There are also many, many templates. I like "Night Launch."
I might try Ubuntu today for shits and giggles. How does that work along with still keeping Windows? Can I totally shut down windows from doing anything unless I want to access it at some point? And what gets used for firewall with Ubuntu? Does it have one of its own?
Ubuntu is a separate OS. Completely independent of windows. When installed, you will get to choose between booting to it or windows every time you boot up your computer. The one you don't boot to will be completely inert. You can also set it to give you the capability of dual boot.