I have a question about Ubuntu

...I have an older laptop with Vista on it. I want to image it and store the image (in case my family or I need something like pics, docs, etc) on a removable disk. Then maybe install Ubuntu on this laptop. Several family members use and have stored data on this laptop.

If we need to look at or retrieve something from this image, will we be able to see and maybe use most of the programs on the image like we can on XP and W7? I know you need things like "jpeg" and other extensions, but will Ubuntu "know" most extensions (especially pics, address books, "windows" versions of browsers, etc), or do I just have to retrieve stuff on my other XP desktop computer?

Thanks for the insight if you have any, lol

Cat in Seattle