[SummerSahar]

Originally Posted by Nat242

An external hard drive is just a small box that you plug in to your computer via USB. You still have your built-in hard drive - external hard drives are for back up and for storing music and other data that you might not need to access every day or don't want to always carry around with you. Cost varies depending on how large you get it - I just bought a 400GB drive for about $200. I bought that off the internet and got a much better deal than retail.

As to getting used to Mac software, it's really quite intuitive. The user interface is really simple - spend a couple of hours playing around and you'll feel right at home. The only thing that has taken me some time to get used to is the absence of a right-click function, but there is a keyboard button you use instead. Really, it won't be an issue. You can even get the Microsoft Office Suite for Macs, which will be really familiar and it's easy to use, and some of the functions improve on the XP Office Suite.

Bootcamp is freeware. My partner has just informed me that the new Mac operating system will come out in October (don't worry, it'll just be slight improvements, nothing catastrophic like Vista), so depending on your timeline, if you wait until then Bootcamp will be preinstalled on your laptop.

That's great about living close to price-matching stores! I'm from Melbourne, originally, where I was taught by Victoria Mead. Do you know her? She's a beautiful dancer. I do miss the belly dance supplies stores in Melbourne; Brisbane doesn't really have any!!!

Hey Nat! I'm with you! I was a PC user for ages and I just bought my first Mac laptop last month. I LOVE it. It IS intuitive. But where is this button you speak of on the keyboard that supposedly replaces the right click button? I MUST have that back.
:-)