Hi Joker,
Yep, the program Kirk suggested works quite well, I use it myself!
Do you have any recording equipment yet? If not...I'll reccomend a few things...
What do you intend to record? Vocals? Guitar? Electric guitar? Drums? All of the above? I suggest a Shure SM57 microphone, it works well recording acoustic instruments, vocals, electric guitars/amplifiers, pretty much everything! If you can't find one at your local music shop, try
www.musiciansfriend.com, or music123.com. They usually sell for around $100. It's a WIDELY used microphone, the president of the united states uses it on his podium!! They have access to any and all microphones! And they choose the SM57! Bands everywhere still use them...They started making that particular model in 1957!</end of salesmen rant>
With that, and an adapter or two...You're set to go! But you really need
one more thing, a pre-amp of some sort, to adjust your input volume, and more importantly, increase it. Chances are, if you just plug a microphone into a computer, record, and listed to what you recorded...You will have to crank the volume in order to hear it. So a volume booster of some sort is essential!
You can use anything from a powered equalizer, to a tape player with in and output jacks.
With all of that, you have a semi-professional home studio! If you want an absolute professional "home studio", you had better be "semi-money bags"!
Alright, I've gotta git, g'dluck!