Ubuntu is a good starting point for new users of Linux, although I would choose Mint over Ubuntu. Mint is just Ubuntu made easier, to put it simply. All the programs you are looking for, are in the program repositories of both Ubuntu and Mint and can be installed though each distro's package manager. I may be thick, but I don't understand "YM chat with wife", what is YM?
Once installed, adding programs/apps is easy in Linux, and, above all there's no charge. Internet Mail is a no brainer, lots of different ways to do mail. GoogleEarth, I have running and is avalable straight from Google, although I think Ubuntu and Mint have points in their repos for it. DVD burning software has many different choices. I use k3b, and I'm very happy with it. Google talk is working on my firefox, even the video version, if that is what your referring to.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Ah, Yahoo Messenger. I've used Yahoo messenger once with Linux. I have a Yahoo account, but prefer Google. I haven't tried the Yahoo Messenger with video though, I use Google Talk with the Google Talk Plugin which works well with Firefox and has very clear video.

Every Linux distro, Mint is a Linux distro, Ubuntu is a Linux Distro, well, they all have a repository of apps/programs that you can install. These apps are signed for security, so, you never have to worry about malware when installing from a distros repository. The program that is used to install apps from the repository is called a package manager, it manages the installation or removal of packages.

You mention that there are a lot of programs on a Linux website to download. Which Linux website are you referring to? I guess there's a bit of confusion for both of us. If you referring to the Linux.com website, tell me where you finding the programs you're talking about. You might just be referring to the iso files of the different distros that you can download for installation.

One other thing, if you want to try Ubuntu or Mint out before you do your install, I can point you to the Live CD's or if the MSI Wind doesn't have a CD drive, to a usb version that you can just plug in so you can run Linux from that without interfering with your hard disk or the version of Windows that's already running on it. Live versions of Linux allow you to try out Linux as if they are already installed, it's a great way to experiment and figure out if everything works on your computer before actually installing to the hard drive. I believe Mint or Ubuntu will have everything you need for testing included on their Live CD or Live USB iso programs.

If you have any other questions, we are here to help, and, don't worry about the questions being basic. We all asked the same questions when we first started.

BTW - If you need help with a link to download Mint or Ubuntu, and even step by step instructions on how to set up the live version for testing, we can help you with that too.

Edit: If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll see if Yahoo messenger with video works on my Linux install, I'll let you know how it goes.

If you going to do testing, the Live versions are the ones you would like to download. For installation purposes, I find the DVD's have more options and do a better job of recognizing certain hardware.

The mint download page is here, even the DVD is a live version:
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

The Ubuntu download page is here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

I personally still use the 32 bit editions. Unless your netbook has more than 4gb of memory (and I don't think yours does) I would stay with 32 bit. I'm not sure if the MSI wind came with a 64 bit processor either, but I don't have the time to research at the moment, I don't believe it did.

My only other question would be about your bandwidth limits. A DVD download could use up around 3 to 4 gb, so, even though a DVD would be a better choice, if you're reaching your limits, a CD download is under 1gb.