Looking to get a MacBook any advice?

I have been using a Windows machine for a long time and recently discovered the Mac. I like the user interface and the software. I still need to be able to access office documents (i.e. Word, Excel, etc...). I also enjoy the occasional short animated movie and also do some fairly serious photo editing. These are the main reasons I am looking at a Mac. I am student so I am looking at the middle model MacBook. Does anyone out there have any advise for me (i.e. horror stories and success stories welcome.)? Thank you for your time.Looking to get a MacBook any advice?
Horror stories: None, really. Just don't go messing around with the Terminal and deleting folders and such if you don't know what you are doing. The closest thing to a horror story you'll likely experience is trying to get accustomed to the new keyboard shortcuts and navigation, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly, I assure you.





Macs are rock solid machines. Before you go and buy Office for the Mac, though, you may want to consider using (for now) NeoOffice (link in sources), which is just like OpenOffice, but built to be ';Mac-like';. When October comes around and iWork '07 is released, you should consider getting a trial of it. It's a good office suite, it's half the cost of MS Office, and you just might like it. Otherwise, MS Office: Mac 2008 should be out pretty soon.





Essential software for your Mac (free, links in sources):


QuickSilver: A keyboard launcher and much, much, MUCH more. There are far too many features to attempt to explain here; just look at this tutorial to get started:


http://vjarmy.com/archives/2004/03/quick鈥?/a>


And look at this YouTube users' profile. He posted a 3-part video tutorial on QuickSilver: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sr33鈥?/a>





Flip4Mac: This allows you to play Windows Media Player files within QuickTime. This means that when trying to view WMP formats, you will no longer get a ';missing plugin'; error.





Perian: This program makes QuickTime play pretty much any video/audio format available. This is handy because QT player rocks in OS X, despite how awful it is in Windows.





VMWare: Ever hear of Parallels, the virtualization software for OS X? Well, VMWare is the same basic thing, but free (it's in beta, though still very reliable).





iStumbler: Since you may be wandering around looking for WiFi hotspots with your MacBook, iStumbler is a must-have. It collects data for available wireless networks, including signal strength and if it's open or password-protected.





Adium: Probably the best IM client ever made for any OS.





Growl: Displays incredibly handy notifications on your screen for a wide range of applications. For example, it will pop up a message in the corner of your screen when a download finishes, of when Mail downloads new messages, or when an IM contact signs on/off, or when your RSS reader fetches new articles, etc., etc.Looking to get a MacBook any advice?
complete sucess. best computer ever. 1 thing though is that the new Mac operating system is coming out in like 2 months so u might want to wait.