I'm new to Ancestry.com, but have been able to trace my roots back quite a bit. I found someone else's tree, and if I were to add the names from that tree to my tree, it would extend my tree back several more generations. However, this would take quite a long time, with all the names in the tree. Is it possible to download a GEDCOM file from a tree that belongs to another user? If so, I haven't figured out yet. Any help you can give me would be most appreciated. Thanks.

"Is it possible to download a GEDCOM file from a tree that belongs to another user?"

No. Only the owner can do that. He/she might forward it to you in response to a request.

Does "New to Ancestry" mean "new to genealogy"?

Copying data wholesale from other trees is a real time saver, but it's not genealogy.

If you're new to genealogy, time is best spent learning the basics.

Importing someone else's work en mass to your work is a sure fire way to save time... AND to get junkology rather than genealogy.

Far better to research each person as you enter them into your database, that way you get to 'meet' each person and verify they really belong where you are putting them.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks, everyone, for the replies.