[Q] HTC One X - Overwhelmed by Android topic

So I just got a One X, and I hate the HTC **** thats on it. It's bloated with a ton of apps that I will never use. I tried to root it but it finished with errors and I don't even know if it worked or not. So I'm lost. I tried to install CyanogenMod through their installer, but that didn't work either. So I googled for HTC One X ROMs but so many showed up I don't know whats garbage or not. Can somebody point me in the right direction here?

[Q] Overwhelmed w/ Rooting, Flashing Roms, etc topic

Just bought my phone last week (HTC desire 601) and have just now decided to start toying around with it and one of the big things that bothers me is that I cant get rid of the terrible blinkfeed view (I hate it) so I figure that rooting my phone is the answer to that problem. I also wish to customize my phone further.

The problem that Im having is that I cant find a guide, or forum post anywhere, explaining in the most layman way possible how to root my phone, and then how to flash a rom ( I dont even know what that means).

Before my Desire 601 I was using an iPhone 4s for a couple years (I jailbroke it, so the idea of rooting and jailbreaking isnt completely foreign to me, I understand the concept of it, why one would want to root their phone, I simply cant find a resource anywhere explaining it simply as possible)