. . .am I to understand that Electrum is a standalone client and perhaps something an idiot like me could try with some success?. . .
Would it be sufficient and secure enough to install version 1.0 of Electrum rather than go with ver. 1.2? . . .
I haven't tried Electrum yet, so I don't really know. I'm not the best person to give you advice or assistance on that. I'd suggest you try posting your questions about the Electrum client in the "Alternative Clients" sub-forum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=37.0
