Basic Networking Help

I have what's probably a pretty basic networking questions, but I don't know where to really start looking for the answer on my own so I thought I'd ask for some help. I have a desktop in my home, and a laptop I use at home and at work as well. I'd like to keep files, such as music and data for work on my desktop and run my laptop with relatively little on it locally. I have XP pro and ubuntu on the laptop and the desktop have Vista business 64 (and I'll likely add ubuntu to it as well). Basically I'd just like to be able to get files from my desktop while I'm at work or maybe listen to my music collection. I'm not sure where to begin looking for an answer about what I need to do this so if anyone could help me or point me in the right direction to search for the answer I'd appreciate it.
Thanks