Thank you! So if I partition 2 GBs to the swap drive I can then leave the rest for everything else? And you suggested multiple names and I was wondering would any of them do or do they all mean something?? Sorry I really have no knowledge at all! Thanks again!
Re your first question - yes, the majority of people running Linux have one large "Linux File Type" partition, and one swap partition. Most swap partitions are between 500 meg on the low side, and 5 gigs on the high side. Linux doesn't need as much swap space as it used to, because the size of HD's has increased so dramatically over the past 5 years, and it's almost rare that swap is accessed. A couple gigabytes for many systems is ample.
Re your second question, I just listed a few of the common Linux file system types. Ext4 is the most common now, and I suggest you select that as your default. But others exist, including some that are still "experimental" (btrfs, reiser4, etc.).
As you may know, Windows uses NTFS (new technology file system) by default, although it also supports FAT16 and FAT32. The USB flash (aka pen, thumb) drives usually use FAT32, which is fine, as Linux can read and write to Windows file systems as well as native Linux file types.
If you obtain a "Live Linux CD" - I'd recommend starting out with Kubuntu 12.4. The most recent release of Ubuntu/Kubuntu is actually 12.10, but 12.4 is a LTX (Long Term Support) release, and generally wil serve you best. I like Kubuntu for many reasons, but one of them is - - for Linux newbies, the interface is "very similar" to Windows 7 (or XP), versus Windows 8. So, the learning curve is considerably easier if you're already used to win 7 or XP. Be sure you know how to download and burn a valid "ISO Image". If you have any question about that, let us know. Once you insert the Live CD and startup Kubuntu (which, by the way is a relatively slow process on a live CD), you'll see an icon on the desktop that will start the install process. If you have a good cable or DSL internet connection, the install will also pull in the latest updates. All in all, it takes about an hour to install (give or take 15 minutes).
You might want to review "distrowatch.com" for info on all things Linux (in addition to this forum), and read up more on all the specific distros available. You might be amazed at all the choices. If you can read, and follow basic instructions, you can setup Kubuntu (as well as several other starter Linux distros). Good luck.