iso opening

have an xp system with nero smartsuite that came with a new cd/dvd writer. need to open and install xubuntu iso from hdd to a cd/dvd. all i have been able to do so far is copy the iso. what am i doing wrong? (just got this cd/dvd drive and never used nero. it was bundled and i think it's the ultimate version, but am not positive). tried to use the nero burn boot disk option but it gave a splash screen, though it opened the iso. message to place 'splashscreenoff' command to elimnate splashscreen was all it showed though the linux tried to boot. anyone know what i need to do to get a bootable xubuntu disk? also, will the solution work for all iso files. i mean open them as they should be (even other linux os iso files such as mephis or debian?)