How does OS X handle my data?

Question

Im getting my first and brand new Macbook Pro this week and have to admit although i researched a lot i still dont know how it will handle my data which i currently have stored on my dvds (because i have to format my external hdd). will for example iTunes handle the data in the same way as it does on a PC? i mean by this that the PC version of iTunes only makes a copy of the files where as the files can be stored somewhere else. i dont wanna have the same thing on my mac. for example what happens if i change the name of a file (again in iTunes or iPhoto). will it change the name of the original file as well or IS it already the original file which is seen in such programs on the OS X? its a kinda confusing question i know but i am uncertain of what to do with the data once i put in a DVD into my new mac. please help....
hope this is the right forum for the question. thank you anyways.

Answer 1

Tharanon,
From your latest post, it sounds to me like your main concern is, in fact, file organization. If that's correct, you'll have no worries!
There's not terribly much different between the file systems (even though they are two different formats). At least, not so in the way you will interact with them. You will have one "volume," named "Macintosh HD" by default. You can choose to have this volume appear at all times on your Desktop, with an appropriate "hard drive" icon, or not- according to your taste. It will always show up in the "Sidebar" of any open Finder window as a shortcut. This volume, when opened in the Finder, will show several folders; "Applications," "Library," "System," and "Users" (at the very least). Obviously, the "Applications" folder is where your applications will be stored. Your own HOME folder, and those of any additional users you create, will reside in the "Users" folder. All very simple, all very organized.
Any additional "volumes" can/will also show up on your Desktop, provided you set that as a preference in the proper location. This includes any attached device that can potentially house files: A CD/DVD, an external hard drive, a remotely mounted network "share," a thumb drive, etc. Your access to the contents of these volumes will be as seamless and as logical (concrete) as accessing the files on your internal hard drive, through an open Finder window.
Your HOME folder stores absolutely every file you use, with the exception of those that reside solely on external/secondary volumes. Do not confuse this with the applications that allow you to access and/or view those files (as stated above, these live in the "Applications" folder). Inside your HOME folder, you will have "Music," "Movies," "Pictures," "Documents," "Downloads," and "Desktop" folders (and a couple others) by default, each intended to house the appropriate files and libraries. iPhoto, for example, will store its library within the "Pictures" folder by default. You can change this behavior as you like, of course. As you can see, however, everything is set up for you out of the box to maintain strict- and logical- organization.
I'm afraid you have been mislead a bit concerning the format of your existing external drive. You should have no trouble accessing this drive, as it is right now, from OS X. If it is formatted as FAT-32, you'll even be able to write to it. If it is NTFS, you will only be able to read.
Regardless of the format, you will have the ability to import from it, into the appropriate Apple application. And, you'll be able to import as is most convenient to you. If you find a single audio file, for example, it can simply be dragged into iTunes to effect the importation. Or, you can use the "Import..." dialogue in iTunes to scan a single folder or an entire directory structure for audio (and video, since iTunes supports video) files. iPhoto operates in the same way, of course, and it won't matter to any of the iApps where the source files you want to import reside, provided the volume can be read by OS X.
Perhaps your only hurdle will be the fact that some "generically" named files will be imported as such, and it will be up to you give them meaningful names. What I mean by this is that you may end up with a bunch of tracks in iTunes named simply "track 1," track 2," etc. This is a problem regardless of how one imports, and it is up to the user to grant meaningful names at the time the files are imported, or to slog through tracks at some later time to determine what's on them (and to name them according at that time).
Getting back to the issue of your external drive's format.... Unless you intend to continue using this drive with PCs, you will at some point want to reformat it as HFS+ (Mac OS Extended), if only to use it as a Time Machine backup drive (and BTW, begin using Time Machine to make regular backups as close to immediately as you can manage). I wouldn't recommend that you erase this drive right off the bat, since you may have some files on it that are important to you. If you know this is not the case, and that everything you want to keep is stored on your DVDs, go right ahead. Just be sure, and keep in mind that OS X will undoubtedly read it just fine (even if it cannot write to it).
If you have further questions, ask away.
Scott