harddrive upgrade 13" macbook

hi i just brought an new macbook 13", wait for it to be delivered. i also i have to an 2.5" sata (500 gb) drive for the laptop.

1. when the laptop arrives can i just install the new harddrive that i have got?

2. do i have to reinstall the software on to the new harddrive?, if so how do i back up the harddrive? and how to restore the back up on the new harddrive?

3. its just plug and play.

thanks for all your help

If you have an enclosure for a 2.5" hard drive, you can use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to clone everything onto the new drive. Otherwise...yes, you will have to reinstall the OS from the install disc.