There are lot of freeware players for Windows like VLC and classic media player for playing DVD's.
Lot of consumers uses Windows at home. There are also a lot of tutorials to help you to improve your experience in Windows.
If you like Linux,then you could try UBuntu. This Linux distribution is made beginners.
I disagree that Ubuntu is made for beginners - Its more that it "Just Works" (tm) . I've been using Linux for nearly 15 years and I've tried them all including Gentoo - so would not describe myself as a beginner. Im using Ubuntu nowadays for my main machines simply because Im happy with what i've learned from using the more "hardcore" distro's like Gentoo and I've grown out of the need to customize and fiddle with everything. I just want the tools to get work done and Ubuntu does that for me. The raspberry Pi satisfies my inner nerd nowadays!
VLC for windows 8 only just launched
http://wind8apps.com/windows-8-1-vlc-app/ anyhow!
