I am also new to Linux, having just installed it on my laptop. For a workstation install you can use a program called
Wubi to install Linux right alongside Windows, then you choose which OS to boot when you start the PC. Wubi is nice as you don't have to alter your drive for Linux to work.
For a standalone or server install of Linux, I'm not sure. I've heard that Linux can read NTFS drives fine, but you need something special to write to them, but I could be wrong.
BMR777