Blender's user manual is available online in several languages in wiki format, and is constantly updated by a worldwide collaboration of volunteers every day. You can get involved as an author here.
Blender is avaliable cross platform, but utilizes OpenGL for drawing the entire interface. That means you best use a graphics card and drivers that conform to the OpenGL specifications.
Unfortunately there are a lot of cheap graphics cards on the market that only support a basic sub-set of the OpenGL specs. VIA and Intel cards are infamous for this.
The Blender developer team welcomes all efforts to bypass issues with specific configurations, but we can only support the platforms well that are in use by active coders... check this list in wiki for which platforms are in active development.
The Amsterdam studio for Open Projects offers trainings for professionals as well. Check the link above for more information.
The Blender community offers a wealth of excellent websites with support forums.
Frequently Asked Questions are available on many topics, such as Using Blender, the GNU GPL license and related to the Windows, Linux and Mac OS X platforms.
The Blender Foundation considers education and training projects crucial for a succesful Open Source project. We are currently coordinating knowledge on this area, sharing experiences, and evaluating proposals for official (certified) training programs on the bf-education mailing list. Everyone interested in the topic is free to join.
World-wide many universities, schools and institutes are now offering Blender training and classes. This section is meant for people who are looking for qualified trainers, or for trainers who want to become certified.
