You're better off with your first experience being the mayday set that uses tiled graphics:

http://mayday.w.staszic.waw.pl/df.php

Here's the wiki, which has some quickstart guides:

http://df.magmawiki.com/

If you're going about it for the first time, I'd recommend the Lazy Newb Pack:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0

Because of the somewhat eccentric nature of the DF menus, this contains a number of utilities like Dwarf Therapist that are, IMO, indispensable for running a fortress of more than about twenty dwarves. It also has a custom tileset built in and an isometric visualization tool.