The only tip I can give you is to check out the interactive tutorials in the help section. there's alot to go over. Most of the features you want to use though are pretty easy.
i just use windows movie maker. works good for me.
i hate windows movie maker more then any other program. i used to put hours of work into a project, then it would freeze up and i would lose everything, saved or not. i use priemiere pro, even on my mac, just because i'm used to the layout and how it works.