Basically, windows is windows. Some changes to get used to, but most everything is pretty much the same. Things may look a bit different, but e-mail is still about the same, and web surfing is easier and lots faster. A $500 laptop from Walmart is 100 times the machine you have now. Look for one with a full size keyboard, including the number pad. I find that the keyboard is more comfortable if you place something under to laptop to tilt the keyboard a bit. If you are using e-mail such as Yahoo or Gmail, it will be the same as you have now, just a lot faster.