Rip This, Tag That, Save it This way...What the...

Forgive me of my ignorance. Prior to posting, I did indeed do a pretty thorough search of this site for answers – but I came away with more questions than answers. I will be using EAC to rip my CDs on my PC/laptop (Vista or XP – is one format better?). What is the best file format, WAV, FLAC, or AIFF (is AIFF even compatible with PC?). What the heck is “Tagging,” and what the heck is “Meta Data,” and what the heck do I need to know about EAC (I downloaded it, but I don’t have any instructions with the download – where do I learn how to run this puppy?)

Lots of questions – sorry, but I need lots of answers, and since you guys are so ridiculously knowledgeable, I know I’m in good hands………