Originally Posted by Jason222
Hardtail:
Full suspension:
(this one's for you gastro

)
this one would be closer to gastro's ride:
Full Suspension a.k.a softtail...(note that the tail is suspended and this, soft, compared to a HARDtail...)
the 'tail' of the bike or rather the frame is not suspended, thus hard-tail.
each one has their own advantages, but starting out in most mountain biking disciplines i highly recommend a hardtail.