Mike:
I'm happy that you have a new machine but you don't tell us what kind of machine is. It is a laptop, a netbook, a PC? What amount of RAM? Which processors? Exactly, how did you install and what errors you had? Do you know about live CD / USB that lets you try the Operative System before install it?
Things like that are very useful. If you don't give us data we can't help you.
Kind regards,
Lailah