CB: It was slow because it was running solely from the CD. Once it's installed, it will be smooth sailing.
Don't worry about drivers either; there really are none. Besides 3D video drivers, everything will detect and install itself. And if you're at work, I doubt you'll need them.
And don't worry about the command line either. It's sooo easy to pick up, I use it for almost everything on my server now (with the exception of GUI specific things). If you know a few DOS commands, you already know a few Linux commands. Most useful to learn off the bat:
cd - jump into a directory
su - total root access
sudo - temp. root access
tar xvjpf - extract .tar.bz2 files (or right click heh)
tar xvzf - extract .tar.gz files (or right click)
mv - move a file to a new location ("mv words.txt /usr/var")
nautilus - the command to open the file browser in Ubuntu
gedit - the command to open the text editor Gedit
Also, don't really worry about learning all the stuff right away. You'll find out something you don't know when you need it, and then learn it then.