Brand New to Linux...PLEASE HELP!

My brother got a used laptop for Christmas, but it has a Linux operating system. I have never touched a linux ever, so i am a tad bit lost on where to even start. I would like to install Java on it but i do not understand the terminal stuff. Game websites, facebook, and youtube all work. I am not to sure what else to install. The guy who gave it to him works on computers for a living, and he installed a program like Microsoft word on it. It is an Ubuntu 12.10. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Connect to the Internet. In a Terminal issue the command: sudo apt-get install default-jre

Check out this link: http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-ubuntu-12.10-quantal-quetzal

I am also new here and I welcome you here.

Hi Melody,
If you're looking for an Linux "office suite" for your notebook i would suggest Apache OfficeOffice / LibreOffice. Perhaps that is what the fellow who provided the notebook installed as they are the most common office type applications.
Brent Kudla