I just installed Ubuntu on a laptop my son gave me. This is my very first foray into the world of Linux and I'm rather having fun so far this first day. I'm not sure which version of Inkscape to install. As far as version I mean what am I looking for as the file type. I want to try the Inkscape 0.47pre1 to try out some of the new features. When I go to the download page there is a lot to look at and I'm not sure what to choose. Would someone please clue me in.

I'm not at my home computer at the moment, or I would double check to be sure, but I believe Inkscape is available in the package manager in Ubuntu. You should be able to go to the Admin -=> Synaptic package manager, or to the "Add/Remove Programs" and select Inkscape in either of those. Then Ubuntu will install it without your having to comb the web for the installation file.

Here is more info how to get prerelease into synaptic https://launchpad.net/~inkscape.testers/+archive/ppa