Good luck
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy
one good thing about linux is the wealth of documentation...
I'm searching for the easy guide that discribes how to use gnome and kde (these are your desktop environments or the gui u can see - underneath that is linux) cant find it i'm a bit tired :o
You shoudl really be able to cofigure network shares networking etc from the gui once confident with that head for the shell