About to switch!

hi this is my 1st post!

im thinking of getting a new iMac (the one with iSight built in), and need to know the answer to a few questions.

1. can macs be networked to windows pcs?(the other computers in my house are windows)

2. will i need to buy all of my software again for mac? (word, photoshop, norton etc)

3.how will i get all of my files from my current pc to the mac?

4. will i have to reformat my ipod to my mac?

5. do imacs come with an email program?

6. do they come with a word processor, if so can they save in windows format (.doc)?

sorry if they are stupid questions, but i am a noob at all this...
thanx for any replies!

1) Yes macs can be networked to pc's, the best tutorial I have found is this one:
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3001.html

2) Yes, unfortunately you will have to get all the software for mac, there are free versions of most programs. Ive never used them so I cant tell you how well they work, but im sure somebody else will let you know.

3)If you can network your pc to your mac with the tutorial above, you can simply transfer them that way. Or if you have an external HD or you could put everything on your ipod and transfer it that way. I would try to network the computers and transfer files that way first.

4) No, a windows formatted ipod will work on a pc or a mac the same. Although, an ipod formatted for mac will not work on a windows pc, so I would leave it formatted for windows. My ipod is formatted for windows, and it works great.

5) Yes, all macs come with an email program called Mail, its an awesome program and I use it for my gmail account.

6) Yes, they come with a word processor called textedit, its kind of like notepad on a pc. You can save as a .doc with it as well.

no question is a stupid question, you may think it is, but if you search there will be a ton of people with the same "stupid" questions. I have asked several of them myself, and this has been the best place for answers I have found. Good luck with the new mac.

Good answers in the post above, here's what I can add to that:

2. Yes, you will need to buy the software again, and I strongly suggest that you shop around before you go throwing good money after bad at the Apple store. They rarely, if ever, put their software on special. If you keep your eyes peeled on deal sites, you can often get the software much cheaper. And of course, Ebay is always an option.

You mentioned Norton, by which I assume you mean Norton Antivirus. If so, you won't need to replace this, since Macs are not currently susceptible to viruses. However, to be friendly to your Windows neighbors, you might consider downloading ClamWin, which is free and scans your files for Windows viruses lest you pass them on to a PC without knowing it.

I personally own MS Office and adore it, but before I had it, I was reasonably happy with OpenOffice (openoffice.org) and NeoOffice. They are excellent facsimiles of MS Office, they're totally free, and you can save and open any files in the usual MS Office format.

As for Photoshop, this is a real expense. If Photoshop is something you need for work, buy it. If it's just for a hobby, try Gimpshop (Google it) which is a fabulous free alternative to Photoshop that has almost all the Photoshop functions and has menus that strongly resemble Photoshop.

5. I happen to love Mail.app, but just to reassure you in case it ends up not being your cup of tea, many Mac users also use Mozilla Thunderbird.

thank you both for your replies, both very helpful!