Still trying to figure out how to do some things that are simple in Windows (for instance installing Netbios on my Ethernet card)

What you likely want is Samba.

I was suprised when I typed "dir" accidently at a command prompt and it actually worked.

You'll likely find a few commands that are the same, or slightly different. Like ipconfig on Windows, is ifconfig on Linux.

Are the different versions of Linux THAT different from each other?

Well, yes and no. It depends on what ones you are comparing. Redhat and Mandrake are very similar, especially in that they are both very Windows like. Redhat tailors things to its own needs, similar to Windows. Debian and Slackware are comparable, I guess. I would call them the more "workman" class, if that means anything to you. Debian and Slackware will provide more functionallity for an advanced user, at the price of a bit tougher install. They are also typically not as bloated as Mandrake and Redhat, but this of course depends on what you decide to install. Gentoo and some of the bootable from a disk linux versions are really small, WindowManager-less (unless you install your own), but extremely fast.

I guess it all depends on what you want to use the machine for. If I was going to run a server, I would typically choose FreeBSD (most secure out of the box), or Redhat (largest community, so makes sense it would get the fastest updates). For programming needs, I choose Debian especially since the apt-get program will give you a boner. For a personal computer, I typically use Mandrake (just like it, that's all), or Debian. For the fun of it, I also like playing with Gentoo.

After I get my network protocol problem resolved, all I have to do is figure out how to install from a CD Drive that is NOT bootable and I'll install it on another system.

Your CD drive is not bootable? I don't want to make it sound like I think you're stupid or anything, but have you tried to change that in the BIOS? Most CD drives these days are bootable. If your BIOS won't let you change it, you can try flashing the BIOS, hoping that a newer version will support this functionallity. If all else fails, do a network install. You should be able to find some version of Linux that will give you the capability to load minimal drivers onto a floppy so that you can do a network install.

Oh, I found that I can use Remote Desktop Client to connect to my Win2k Server. And I found that I can use WinaXe to connect to my Linux box from my Windows PC (but that way costs $150 - Is there a cheaper way to do that?)

Yes, how about SSH? Your linux system will have the capability to be an SSH Server by default (may require setting this up, but the stuffs all there), then you can get the Putty SSH client and install it on your Windows machine. Also, if you have to have a Graphical Remote Client to your Linux box, you can try using VNC. I believe there is a VNC server available for some flavors of Linux, and you should be able to get a VNC client for Windows easy enough. I'm assuming they'll work together.