vag com noob...
 

So I got my generic blue USB-to-OBDII cable today but have not went out for sw/drivers yet.

I'm assuming I need drivers for my laptop/garage PC and then some sort of sw to interface with the car.

What is out there that is free that I can play with until I find out what sw I want to actually license?

TIA

lemmiwinks is free... but not good for diagnosing, good for tweaking

Ross tech has free sw, its limited, but gives a good idea of what you get.