Newb Questions - Transition from Windows to OSX

Hi, i still use windows on my PC but i would like to set up my OSX to operate in the same ways for some things.

1. Home / End keys on keyboard how can i change those to operate how they would on windows where when focusing on text clicking those keys takes you to the end of the line or the beginning. I tried changing my preferences like a couple sites said but it doesnt seem to work in anything but firefox.

2. When clicking on a ICON from the DOCK i would like it to open a new instance of the APP. For example i already have firefox open and i click on the firefox icon on the dock, i want it to open a new instance of the app, not bring the current instance of the app to focus.

3. I cant for the life of me figure out how to configure button 4 & 5 on my mouse. Mainly i want to use them for going forward/backwards like when browsing or evening using Finder.

4. When you have multiple versions of an app open you can visually see this in the Windows Task bar, is it possible to set up the DOCK or some 3rd party app to support that? I have 4 ICONS on my DOCK and thats all ill ever have so im not worried about space.

5a. When using spaces and i have lets say in section #1 firefox open and i move to section #2 and trying to open firefox it will just go back to section #1 and bring firefox to focus. So i would instead like it to open a new instance of the APP i click in that space.

5b. Is it at all possible with spaces to take a current instance of a program and somehow move it to a different space?

Why would you want to open another instance of an app? Having Firefox, for example, open more than once will certainly slow your machine down. Using the tabbed browsing feature will give you as many "windows" (tabs) as you want and you can switch between them easily.

cant help you with the mouse thing, but the multiple instances of one app open is a thing OS X just doesn't do, unless you have different versions of the same app

It's just something about OS X that you will get used to

To get to the end of a line try command - right arrow key

To get to the beginning of a line try command - left arrow key

A lot of your problems seem to revolve around "instances", so I'll tackle that:

1. Applications under OS X can only be launched once. If Safari is open, you can't open another copy of Safari.

2. Applications are either document-based or single-window apps.
Document-based means that each "document" you open will live in its own window. Closing all windows won't necessarily close the application.

Safari, Pages, Textedit, Firefox, Preview etc. are all classed as Document-based.

To get multiple windows, you can usually either "create" new documents, or just select a "new window" command.

Single-window apps are focused around a single task or set of data. Only one main window is required and often the app will quit when you close that window.

Examples: iPhoto, System preferences, etc.

Now: You're trying to have multiple instances of an app. On the mac, that would mean opening multiple windows for a document-based application. Just launch Firefox and then select "Firefox > New Window" as many times as you want.

To select individual windows from the Dock, you can right-click the Dock icon and select the window title from the Dock menu.

To view all windows of one application, use the exposé "Application windows" command and set it to a shortcut or mousebutton of your choice.