New to mac.. in need of help :(

Hey guys,
Im so happy with my new mac.. I just bought it yesterday!!

but i have a few questions..

How do I use msn?
Is there a free spyware blaster type of program for mac?
I want mac office on my laptop.. is there any way around the $300 price tag ;D ?
What else should i get or do?
I have a home recording studio and i use microsoft programs ..ie.. adobe audition .. flp.. would this boot camp thing slow my laptop down??

Thanks guys,
Looking forward to learning from you all

Welcome to the world of Mac, N2C! I can help you out with some of your questions.

For MSN, I recommend a program called Adium, available at www.adiumx.com. It's a multiprotocol IM application that can interface with every major IM network, and is one of the penultimate third party Mac applications.

As for spyware, to make a long story short - there is no spyware on the Mac. OS X, despite the arguments that go into this subject, is more secure than Windows against malware, and no significant threats of this nature yet exist for Mac users. Therefore, there's no need for a spyware blaster type program, as weird as it may be for a recent Windows user

As for Office, there are several free alternatives for the Mac. The most popular are OpenOffice.org and NeoOffice. Also, there's Apple's own iWork suite. I personally use MS Office, as it's quite a solid suite of apps.

Boot Camp will not slow your computer down in any way. It's simply a dual boot solution that lets you run Windows at native speed, as a second OS. There is typically a Mac version or equivalent of most Windows applications, and I recommend those first before using Boot Camp, as you'll want to get used to how OS X does things.

As for other apps, I suggest googling Transmission for torrenting, Handbrake for DVD ripping, and Flip4Mac and Perian for additional video codecs for Quicktime. Enjoy your new Mac!

I have a few short answers, I hope it helps.

Get MSN Messenger for Mac: Download here
I don't think you'll really need a spyware app.
The student edition is only $150.
Depends on what you need or want to do.
No, boot camp will not slow your laptop down.

Ah, josh beat me to it.

guys, thanks a lot!!

wait.. so you mean I dont have to run 4 different spyware programs?!?!?!
O...M....G..... x 487494874

im in love