Talbot wrote:

I'm a musician with a very limited budget and little time to fool around
with computers.

Wrong you are a paid astro turfer for M$.
You would not be posting unless you get paid.

There are hundreds of GNU/Linux LiveCDs out there
some of them dedicated to music such as DynBolic
http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
Its done up by techies and all free.