*hijack*
Sorry about this, but is there anything out there that can help you get into linux?
Just install it and jump in. You will learn out of necessity. Get your help from the community (distro specific discussion boards, personal how-to's, wikis, etc...). Eventually you will get the hang of it all.
To the OP, if you go with Ubuntu, you will probably be forced to boot with "noapic" otherwise it will freeze half-way through the live-cd boot. This is probably true of most other distros. However, I'm running my DV6000Z with Vista Premium and Ubuntu Gutsy. Only problem that I haven't been able to solve is getting USB to work without sacrificing stability.
If you have an Intel based Pavilion, chances are it should work well out-of-the-box. If you have an AMD, you will need to setup your Broadcom wireless with ndiswrapper.