answer:1. Ask for Windows 7. 8 will drive you mad. 2. Forget touch screens. Pointless on a desktop, too expensive, and it will tire you out. Ethernet is local networking. 10/100 refers to the transfer capacity in megabit per second, and 100 is standard. Only really important for personal use if you have an internet connection that is above 100Mbit. Processor type and speed is not relevant for your projected use, neiter is the graphics card. And cheap thing will do. As for brands, I can not help you there. I assemple my own stuff.