I was a complete noob about a week ago. Don't worry. It's not that bad. Just read, read, read, read, read (I can't stress it enough) to at least get an idea of the different methods of rooting. I ended up using the Unrevoked 3.21...the beta right before it was released again. Everything went fine although I was as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs!!
Just read, follow the many good tips and advice on this forum and you can't go wrong. There is a ton of good info here and lots of people willing to help. This is a great community.
I have yet to try different ROMS. I was satisfied with the stock froyo 2.2 so I flashed the rooted version. I was really only concerned with unlocking the free wireless tether.
I am using the netarchy 4.1.9 kernel w/HAVS. I might go to the 4.1.8 as I have had some locking up/hanging issues....