Total Newbie confused about partitions

I have done some reading & research but I`m rather confused about the whole issue of partitionning ie can I do that if I already have the following partitions:

Boot: 75GB used 47.5GB free (system NTFS) Recover: 7.20GB used 19.20GB free (system FAT32)

Yes that is possible.

Also I don`t quite understand LIVE CDs beyond that they are the operating system equivalent of perfume testers.

A LiveCD (or a LiveDVD) is a CD (or DVD) that you can use to try out the operating system without installing, or install it. So, yes, it's basicly both a perfume tester and the perfume itself in one.

I got some CDs from recent magazines I bought (UBuntu 13.04 and 12.10 - both 32bit), can I use these as LIVE CDs? If so how do I do that? Do I need to press a key when rebooting?

Yes. Put the disc of 13.04 in your PC, turn your PC off, and turn it on again. Wait a moment and a menu should appear that asks if you want to try Ubuntu without installing, or install it.

If not (and Windows Vista appears again), you should restart your PC again, and wait until the screen appears with Press <some button> to access boot menu. Then quickly press that key, and in the menu that appears, choose CD-ROM using the arrow keys and Enter.

Before installing, MAKE A BACKUP FIRST! Most installations will go flawlessly, but, like with everything, there's always the possibility of things going wrong.

The installation is pretty self-explanatory.

About partitioning: The partitioning is really easy. During installation, you can choose to install alongside Windows or install instead of Windows (WARNING: THE LATTER WILL DELETE ALL YOUR FILES STORED IN WINDOWS!!!). If you install alongside Windows, something like this will appear:

Just slide the line between Windows and Ubuntu to choose how many GB's you want to reserve for Windows and for Ubuntu. Then click "Install Now".

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them!