Installing Programs

Greetings,
I just purchased my first mac and I am having some issues.
I cant install any programs. Maybe i am not doing it correctly. I have downloaded the .dmg file but when i double click them for the install they open up n internet explorer as a bunch of jumbled text. then i have to restart/reboot.

What am i doing wrong?

Sounds like your association has been messed up. Single click the dmg file, then hold down the apple key and press the I key. In the info box that comes up, look down where it says "opens with" and set it to "DiskImageMounter.app" also click the button that says open all applications like this. Now when you double click it it should open up in a folder (like pkzip ir winzip on a pc). Then you just open another finder window and drag the "app" file to your applications folder to install/ A few programs may have a installer.app that you can just double click and it will install automatically, but the majority of apple apps just install by dropping them into the applications folder.