Mozilla Firefox - The best free browser...again, that I have found:
Web site that helps you understand everything that these protect your computer from and how they work, (yeah....I know...priceless.) Once there just type anything into the search engine (firewall, spyware, anti-virus, virus...heck...even type in firefox) and click on go:
As far as operating the actual programs themselves, well, you need to read the help files for each program. Some of the programs even have a tutorial. The more you know about this stuff, the longer you will have a happy computer and your identity should stay your own.