Here are my observations:
1. Your problems may be less to do with Ubuntu and more to do with the way you have set up your VM. You have not assigned sufficient resources to run Ubuntu. For any practical Ubuntu VM, you need a minimum of 2 CPUs and all the video memory you can give it. Ubuntu is designed to run with lots of 3-D effects and needs significant base HW if run in a VM.
[StuartV] So, you're saying Ubuntu requires more resources than Windows?!?! I often run 3 Windows 7 x64 VMs at the same time (on my quad core laptop), each with 1 core assigned and 2 - 4 GB of RAM assigned. 2 of the VMs will also be running Visual Studio and full-blown SQL Server within them (one VS2005 with SQL 2005 and one VS2010 with SQL 2008). The third VM is just plain Win 7 x64 being used to do test installs and test runs of the application I'm working on. And they all maintain rock solid network connectivity.
Now you're telling me that a machine (my laptop) that can do all that with no noticeable performance degradation or network connectivity problems can't run one VM of Ubuntu on 1 core and get solid performance??
2. Again, VMs are usually the culprit in wonky network connections. I also run many OSes in VMs and have run into similar problems in the past. Try a bridged network rather than NAT addressing. The double NAT addressing through your router and then through your VM will often cause wonky behaviour. This is not an Ubuntu problem. My Windows installs act up just as often, and there is no obvious program or app in Windows to address the problem either.
[StuartV] I AM using bridged connections. That is my default and I confirmed it yesterday when I was working on the issue. As I said above, MY Windows installs never display network connectivity problems - even when I'm running 3 Windows VMs at the same time. And I do all my development work in these VMs, so I'm in them full time (during the work day) - and most of the time VPN'd (VPN software running in one of the VMs) into my office.
I am baffled that you could say so definitely that this is not a Ubuntu problem.
3. The dconf editor is similar to the Windows regedit and is frankly much more versatile (because it addresses config files that are writtten in plain text, and therefore do not even really need dconf editor to change). However, just like regedit it is not easily accessible because it is not meant for "mainstream, Joe User". To run it, you simply open the Dash and type "dconf editor". As soon as you type enough characters for the Dash to make accurate predictions, it will present a selection of apps you can choose.
[StuartV] One of the reasons I have jumped into Linux is that, with all the things I read and hear about how Linux is finally a viable desktop replacement candidate for Windows, I want to evaluate that claim for myself (besides wanting to do some Linux-based development projects). As such, I am attempting to do everything I can the way I would tell my parents to do it (if I replaced Windows on their PC with Linux). And that means (for one thing) no typing commands. If I can't navigate to an app by clicking through some menus, then I certainly cannot expect my parents to run it. For Joe User, typing is for entering data - not navigating their computer or running programs.
Fortuntely, in this case, I did find the Dconf Editor in the "all apps" tab of the Dash Home button.
4. The terminal is called Terminal and is available in the Dash within the apps section , but the easiest way to invoke it is using the shortcut keys, <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<t>. However, there is a better way to view the info you want using the log viewer, again, available in the Dash apps area. However, you can also bring it up by typing "log viewer" in the Dash (you should notice a pattern developing here).
[StuartV] Again, I did find it in Dash apps. And again, having to actually know the name of what you want, and type it in, does not fly with Joe User. Joe User may not need to run Log Viewer - but then again, they might. Regardless, there are plenty of other apps in the Dash apps area that Joe User would want to run - even though they don't know the app's exact name.
5. I realize that your familiarity with Windows makes that system easier for you to use, but by the same token, my familiarity with Ubuntu makes this system the easier one for me to use. And every time I have to defrag Windows disks, wait ten minutes for Antivirus to finish downloading/scanning, or suffer through fifteen minutes of mystifying disk thrashing, I find myself doing the "if this were Linux..." thing.
[StuartV] Sure. But, if we were having this same conversation in reverse, at no time would I have ever told you, "go here and TYPE xyz". I would have told you what buttons and menu entries to click on. And THAT is a fundamental difference. And, I would say, until a somewhat computer-savvy Joe User can install and run Ubuntu reliably without requiring help in the form of "go here and type blahblahblah', it's not going to pose a serious threat to Windows.
6. Evolution supports Exchange, but I don't know how to configure it to work through an HTTP proxy. The first thing you may wish to do is simply ask the gurus on this forum in a separate thread. The Ubuntu community is one of the best features of the OS. To delete T-Bird, you must actually delete it. This is no different than the way Windows works. It is not enough to just delete the icon in either OS. Deleting an app is as simple as searching for Thunderbird in the Software Center and clicking "uninstall".
[StuartV] I don't want to delete Tbird. It wasn't showing an icon in the top right (the system title bar?) of the screen until I ran it for the first time. i've decided not to use it (at least, for now), so I want that notification icon to go away. Are you saying the only way to get rid of that is to delete Tbird from my system?
A final word of unsolicited advice: you are mistaking unfamiliarity with difficulty of use. Ubuntu is not Windows. By bringing a Windows mindset into your approach, you are putting yourself behind the 8-ball before you even start. Any learning curve is difficult and frustration is perfectly understandable. I recommend that before you just dive into Ubuntu, read the resources in the links provided above. It will give you a much better grounding for not only technical knowledge, but a better set of expectations.
Frustrated newb with questions
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seeing as Unity isn't for the old, but for the new. Not for you, but for your kids. Like if you grew up on command line, but your kids started using that new fangled, not as powerfull "desktop". You wouldn't understand. 
Originally Posted by alphacrucis2
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