1. All of linux is free except for some versions of red Hat enterprise
2. Drivers for whatever version you use will be found on the Distro's official website
3. The is an app called WINE that will let you use most windows programs in linux, unfortunately its all emulated so it would run slower than usual, as for gamesm WINE does not support Direct X. so except for a few games that have been officially ported you are out of luck
4.Yes, most disto's can read NTFS, although many cannot write to it.
5.a "distro" is a distribution, which is slang for a different version of linux. Like SUSE, Ubuntu, or Debian.
6. No Ubuntu is its own Distro, it runs on its own and is one of the more advanced and better supported versions. it is also well known for being a good beginner distro.
7. Like drivers the official website for the particular disto has repositories for that. if you cannot download them directly at the least there will be links to the software downloads.
8. I believe there is a linux port of the IM client Gaim. it is able to talk to multiple IM services at once.
9.Yes in fact Ubuntu comes with Firefox
10. Depends on which distro you are using. but on average it will use less than windows.
11. Each has its own, and reading the user manual is a good way to learn them.
12. there is no "real" linux. the linux kernel was originally written by a college student a long time ago. but to my knowledge there is no official linux. it is a term for a family of operating systems. But
www.linux.org has a lot of distros listed and is a great resource to learn more.