-- it sounds like I should just be able to drag-and-drop onto the hard drive from the XP, and then just drag-and-drop onto the iMac from the hard drive. Does this sound right?

No, this doesn't sound right. Mac has a different file table than PC, though if you chose FAT32, OSX can read that natively, and should manage any disk up to 137 GB. You might find other software that lets you read FAT16, and NTSC.

-- Is there any way to tell if the iMac I'll be getting has the latest version of OS X?

If you buy it new, you get the latest major version (10.5) then you run "Software Update " (included) to get the latest update (10.5.1, or whatever).

-- She said that there's no way in OS X to view/edit plain PC .txt files. Is this true? She said that Pages reads MS Word .doc files just fine, but that plain text files are unreadable on a Mac. This seems unbelievable to me.

-- I have at least one application that I need to keep running under Windows (an old Borland C++ compiler), so I want to run duel operating systems. A more knowledgeable fellow I spoke with last night said that he recommends VMware Fusion to Parallels Desktop because it runs more smoothly. Does anyone have thoughts on this? And would you recommend FAT32 or NTFS?

-- Will my virtual Windows machine be able to access files from the Mac part of the hard drive, or will I need to copy the files to the FAT32/NTFS-formatted part of the hard drive before they can be accessed/recognized in Windows?

-- It sounds like the OS X email client is Mail (right?). Will Mail sync with Hotmail?

Both Out look and Hotmail are Microsoft products (now), which is why they work together. Mail is the simply the default installed product on the Mac, but you may, if you so desire, install the Mac version of outlook. Hotmail also has a web interface that works with most browsers...

-- I have an iPhone and I'll be using the iMac for syncing once I receive it,

Moving stuff 'by hand" into iTunes isn't so tough. Just lasso and drag. I'll defer to jory with the iPhone stuff, but it sounds like you got the straight deal. Thing is, you can save your contacts into a list on the PC and import them into Address Book from that file.


-- Would it make any difference if I upgraded to 2GB of memory instead of 1GB?

Yes, More memory is always beneficial to performance (within reason), and the max memory option at the apple store is always in the butter zone for high end performance. Minimum configurations are in the zone for occasional internet use and other pre-installed apps.

-- She said that there's no way in OS X to view/edit plain PC .txt
files. Is this true?

Ridiculous. There's several applications that read .txt files. I
think even Preview can read them. Worst case scenario, download a
demo of BBEdit and go. Sheesh...

Macs come with TextEdit which will read and write txt files.

-- I have at least one application that I need to keep running under
Windows (an old Borland C++ compiler), so I want to run duel
operating systems. A more knowledgeable fellow I spoke with last
night said that he recommends VMware Fusion to Parallels Desktop
because it runs more smoothly. Does anyone have thoughts on this?
And would you recommend FAT32 or NTFS?

I'm out...

OS 10.5 Leopard comes with Boot Camp which allows you to boot your computer in Windows. I believe you need XP Service Pack 2 installers for this to work.

-- It sounds like the OS X email client is Mail (right?). Will Mail
sync with Hotmail?

Both Out look and Hotmail are Microsoft products (now), which is why
they work together. Mail is the simply the default installed product
on the Mac, but you may, if you so desire, install the Mac version
of outlook. Hotmail also has a web interface that works with most
browsers...

The Mac version of Outlook is Entourage.

Could you use gcc instead of your old c++ compiler? gcc's c++ is good from what I understand...

Q1: I'll be getting an external hard drive to back up my XP machine for transfer to my iMac [SNIP]

A1: Yes, you can easily copy files FROM an NTFS drive to the Mac and write files to FAT16 or FAT32 from within Mac OS X. Disk format is different from file format, however, so don't expect Windows-only files such as Publisher to work with Mac programs. For most files this is not an issue, but Windows-only programs with proprietary file formats are still that, and copying the file may not help much.

Q2: Is there any way to tell if the iMac I'll be getting has the latest version of OS X?

A2: The store should be able to tell from the box, and the version of OS X which is installed is also printed (in very small letters) on the restore discs which come with each machine. If your iMac comes with 10.4 (Tiger) pre-installed, there will be a second 10.5 (Leopard) "CPU Drop-In" disc which you can use to install 10.5 from, but you may very well need to update to 10.5.1 or whatever is current when you get your machine. These upgrades are all free.

Q3: She said that there's no way in OS X to view/edit plain PC .txt files. Is this true? She said that Pages reads MS Word .doc files just fine [snip]

A3: OS X is based on BSD Unix, and Macs have always been able to read plain text files. A pound's a pound the world around and ASCII is ASCII. Pages can convert Word .doc files but for maximum compatibility you will probably want to get the Mac version of Office. If you purchase it as an OEM when you buy your iMac it may save you a little money. Word has many weird, program-specific features (such as their implementation of "track changes" which do not work with other programs), although TextEdit can read and write .doc/.rtf (similar to Wordpad in Windows). Pages is not a replacement for Word but an alternative to Word for a certain flavor of user.

Q4: [snip] recommends VMware Fusion to Parallels Desktop because it runs more smoothly [snip]

A4: I know lots of folks who are happy with Parallels and Boot Camp but no one who is using VMWare, but I wouldn't bother to try. If you use Parallels it creates a virtual environment which is its own deal, while Boot Camp may have required NTFS at one point. When you partition the hard drive using a tool such as Boot Camp you must worry about such things, but not with Parallels.

Q5: Will my virtual Windows machine be able to access files from the Mac part of the hard drive, or will I need to copy the files to the FAT32/NTFS-formatted part of the hard drive before they can be accessed/recognized in Windows?

A5: If you use Parallels there is an option to create shared folders accessible from either environment, and this is simpler for most people. Other options include copying things to a FAT USB Flash Drive or enabling Windows Sharing on OS X, but for most users the Parallels shared folders are easiest.

Q6: It sounds like the OS X email client is Mail (right?). Both of my primary email accounts are Hotmail, which interfaces with Microsoft Outlook Express. Will Mail sync with Hotmail? If not... I bought two IzyMail accounts to allow my iPhone to receive my Hotmail messages. (I think it acts as a POP3 interface, or something like that.) Does anyone know if IzyMail will allow me to use my Hotmail accounts in Mail?

A7: Last time I checked Hotmail was NOT POP3 or IMAP compliant, nor is it Exchange Server. It is its own weird beast. There used to be plug-ins that would allow Mail.app to access Hotmail but they were often sketchy. Hotmail on the Mac is simplest as a webmail app, accessed through a web interface. Most people find it simpler to get a better free email provider such as GMail.

OS X's Mail.app is the default email client that ships with OS X but you can use a variety of clients. Other current favorites include Thunderbird and I would suggest a completely different thread to ask about Hotmail access from the Mac. I am not familiar with IzyMail. Just as you are not limited to Safari as your only web browser or TextEdit as your only word processor, there is no reason to use Mail.app if it does not appeal to you. Entourage has historically been a foul beast that keeps all of your data in a single file which is prone to corruption, often causing total loss of data. My general advice is to avoid Entourage if you can, but maybe the newest version will work. Really. Maybe. Pretty please.

Q8: I have an iPhone and I'll be using the iMac for syncing once I receive it, instead of my PC. [snip]

A8: If this were true (and I doubt it is) someone will come up with a tool to solve this. It would surprise me if this were true, but I have no direct experience to disprove it.

Q9: Finally, I'm wondering if there are any Second Life users out there who can tell me how well it works with the 24" iMac with the 2.4GHz processor, 1GB of memory, and ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics card. Would it make any difference if I upgraded to 2GB of memory instead of 1GB?

A9: More RAM makes everything better (insert customary "first life" joke here) and I would suggest maxing out the machine with 4GB, especially if you'll be doing a lot of stuff with MS Windows. One huge advantage of Parallels is that it will work with most modern flavors of Windows, including XP with or without SP2.

A10: If you can find a local user group, that would be a great place to check out, just to see if there is anything there for you. Everything you describe seems very doable, and it would surprise me if this person who gave you this "advice" is still working there the next time you swing by.

First of, congratulations. Secondly, the frequent posters you find here are far more savy than I to address your Tech. Inquirys however, I did want to pass on advice that I got from this group. For your RAM upgrades I recommend eshop.macsales.com/
I took the groups advice and saved myself nearly $200. For your system you will probably save more.

All the best