SVN instead of FTP

[eluser]richzilla[/eluser]
Hi all, ive been doing a bit of poking around, and have seen a lot of talk about using SVN to update sites instead of FTP. At present to do a major file overhaul, i download everything of the server, zip it up, highlight all the new stuff, upload and overwrite where necessary. This has worked fine so far, but it seems to be smirked at by the more experienced among us . So ive decided to attempt things properly. Whats the best way to get started using SVN, and are there any good guides around that would point me in the correct direction?
Also, the comp at work is windows, i dont know if that will cause any problems at all?

any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[eluser]steelaz[/eluser]
Why not just synchronize directories using FTP? I use Total Commander for that, ut I'm sure most FTP programs have this feature. I just compare application directory server<--&gt;local and it shows me which files need to be updated, then I can select which ones I want to upload/download/skip and click "Synchronize".