"Rooting" my Samsung Fascinate?

Okay, so I am sick and tired of this Verizon crap of forcing me to use Bing and not allowing me to delete applications I don't want.

I've heard that something called "rooting" can help me out. I'm not a complete moron, but I'm not an advanced techie either.

What is rooting?
What will it remove from/allow me to do with my phone?
How do I do it?
Will it void my warranty completely?

I've goggled it a few times, but I can't seem to find any very straight-forward answers to the questions I have.
I appreciate the feedback guys!