What is the best way to transfer files from Windows XP to a new MacBook Pro?

I am about to make the switch from PC to Mac, but I am not completely sure how I should transfer all of my old files (Word docs, PowerPoints, Excel Sheets, pictures, etc.) over to the new Mac. I read this article, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4796, and it said to download Windows Migration Assistant. It says that a new user account will be created on the Mac containing all of the transferred material. I assume that I can just pull stuff from the newly created account and put it on the main or administrative account? Also, I assume that I can delete the created account after I get everything that I want off of it, but I am new to the whole Mac thing and assuming never gets anyone anywhere. One more thing, I do not want to transfer over my email accounts from Outlook because there is some kind of problem with the way they are set up. I want to just start them completely over in Mail. The article says that the program will automatically transfer over email accounts. Is there a way to avoid that or just transfer stuff manually? If anyone has transferred files this way before, I would really appreciate any insight you can give me. Thanks!

Best way would be NOT to use any sort of migration program, just copy the files over and place them in the same Music, Pictures, Documents folders on the Mac like it is on Windows.
All you need a external USB drive you can pick up at any office or computer store, I would advise powered and either the same size or larger (not too big) than your boot drive on the Mac. So later you can make a clone of OS X, as there is NO system restore on a Mac.
Most drives are formatted MBR with a FAT32 (named "MSDOS" in Apple's Disk Utility) and can be read on a Mac just as easily.
If for some reason your external drive has been already formatted by Windows into NTFS format, then a Mac can't read it without paying for more software and having to hassle with updates, it not working etc. So format the external drive FAT (FAT32) or even exFAT on the PC first (exFAT needs a free download from Microsoft on XP machines)
When you connect the drive, simply drag and drop your files right into the same folders, this way you can control what comes over and what stays.
If you want a free program that can open your Office files without having to pay for OfficeMac, then the free LibreOffice is available and works great.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

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