My Awesome Deal.. and some questions

I found my true love. i am falling in love with Mac, and i am not sure how can i ever tell my wife!

So i got this new MacBook (White); from Bestbuy Canada, priced for $1149.99 and i got it NEW for $900.00, i think this is awesome price.

Mfr. Part Number: MB881LL/A
Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo
Screen Size 13.3"
RAM (Preloaded / Maximum) 2GB (Expandable to 4GB)
Hard Drive 120GB 5400RPM
Optical Drives 8X SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Average Battery Life 5 Hours
Product Weight 2.27 kg
Audio Type Stereo
Battery Type Lithium-Polymer
Cache 3MB L2
Fax/Modem Not Applicable
I/O Ports USB 2.0, VGA Output, Composite Output
Included In Box AC Adapter, Manual
Network Card Built-In 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit
Other Software iLife 09, QuickTime, Time Machine
PC Card Slots No
Pointing Device Multi-Touch Trackpad
Preloaded Operating System Mac OS 10.5 Leopard
Processor Speed 2.0GHz
Product Dimensions 32.5(W) x 2.75(H) x 22.7(D) cm
Removable Storage No
Screen Type TFT Glossy
Speakers Yes
System Bus 1066MHz
Warranty 1 Year Limited

now for a Mac newbie;
1. Do i need anti-virus protection at all?

2. what is the best anti-virus or internet security package to use and hope it won't kill starts up and over all speed? (currently i am using Norton 360 for my PCs)

3. do i need to upgrade the rams to the maximum (4GB)? and will that void warranty?

4. what enhancements; applications or software to use this beauty to the fullest?

forgive my too many questions, and appreciate all your help.

1. check this out http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/23835-official-mac-antivirus-firewall-faq.html
personally I think antivirus for mac is a rip off, at least so far, if you watch out what you do on your computer you will be fine, but be sure to do your research and don't take my word for it
you still should watch out for spyware/malware but again it is not that common as on Windows (if you're a linux/unix user you probably know what it's about)

3. it really depends on what you will be doing with your Mac, for regular work and even for development or photography 2gigs will make you happy, but it is a big improvement to have the Ram, so far I haven't heard any1 complaining about too much ram, let me know when you do

4. what enhancements would you like? for basic use MacOSX has pretty much everything you need
again, what is to the fullest for you? photography? programming? movie editing? gaming? ...
there are endless utilities for Mac, and the best thing is you don't need to worry about screwing up your system, if you don't like it, just delete the whole directory or .app and be done with it
just a random search here:
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/ip...have-paid-free-how-much-do-you-like-them.html
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-applications-games/119621-what-your-favorite-app.html

Edit,
just a comment, although you can delete the application with no harm, sometimes there are preferences but they don't do anything alone and it's not that common, or at least not so disturbing

Thanks Scathe for your prompt reply and the link for the A/V FAQs, very helpful. The link to the application forums is awesome too. thanks.

I think i will wait a while to get to know my new Mac well and see how it performs over time, and then consider the ram upgrade.

I am not gonna use it for gaming anyway, i have PS3 and i am not much of a gamer, not any more. But i am looking to make it my main computing device as i am slowly making the transition to stop depending on Vista (although i have tons of applications and programs on Vista that i know i can't find them for Mac).

Sharing Photography, and home movies would be great way to start using my Mac. i am not sure if Mac gets degrading performance the more you use it as to a PC, do i need to have cleaning utilities, registry fixing and all that as in windows?

So to remove an application, i just delete it?!! there is no Add/Remove Programs, and uninstall and all that as in windows?

good idea to see what suits you, you can always up your ram when you need it, don't have to be a rocket scientist to put it in

the famous "system rot" known on windows generally doesn't happen you can run on one installation of MacOS for years without noticing any performance downsides (well in the boundries of hardware that is)

to remove an app you just send it to the trash (and empty) no worries about it, so you are free to try anything that appeals to you .. most apps out there you just drag from an image (.dmg) to your application folder and you are good to go, note you can move it whenever you want and it doesn't have to be in the application folder. But if it has an installer, then it uses some other resources other then the .app bundle, so be sure to check where it stores it's preferences

by sharing photography you mean like a web album? you could try flicr, picassa, whatever ..


Edit,
coming from windows you probably don't know what the .app is (application obviously); it's a special kind of folder which by default you don't see inside of, but it actually has a classic structure beneath the surface, but you just double click the .app and run it/move it/delete it ... to see the package contents, double click it and select show package contents, but the average user never needs to do this step