2 macbook problems anyone?

PROBLEM 1

hey guys, first time in here so ill start by saying im not too good w/ computers n ****. anyway to the point, i recently got a macbook and was wondering how i would be able to access a PC on the same network. sounds confusing so ill explain a little... if i type \\{name of computer} i am able to connect to another computer that is on the same network as me, (thats on my desktop computer) so my question is how would i do that on macbook's Safari, i tried typing \\{name} but it adds http:// so it looks like: http://\\{name} which means it doesnt work, is there a way to get this to work or am i gonna have to throw this out of the window? thanks in advance for any help sorry for the crappy grammar/lack of paragraphs, im in a hurry.

PROBLEM 2

its more of a question really...how do i use my mic and webcam on windows live messenger or other messaging programmes
also what programs can i download for recording video and audio on my lovely macbook.

PS: question 1 was copy/pasted from a diff forum so bear with me.

PC networking: In Finder Go -> Connect to Server (or Command-K) and in the resulting dialog enter smb://name-of-pc-you-connect

It should give you a list of shares, and an opportunity to authenticate if necessary.

For live messaging, not sure if you can use the mic and camera with Windows messaging, but if you get Parallels and install a Windows virtual machine, the latest version of Parallels supports the built-in iSight camera. I've tried it a little bit with mine, but haven't really had the time to really test it. Otherwise iChat should let you video conference with people on AIM (though I haven't gotten that to work with anyone other than those who are also using iChat.)

This is a very informative site in which it tells you how to connect a Mac and a PC http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=54704 basically once you have joined the workgroup and everything you put in the other \\Windows PC IP\SharedDocs (or whatever the shared folder).

thanks for your help guys now i can watch movies from my pc anyone got any ideas on my mic/webcam problem/question?