Mac is Buggy, Panics, and Programs restart

Question

Sorry in advance if I am repeating other known issues.
My MacBook has been very buggy lately. (macbook is less than a year old bought in feb)
First whenever I first start up Safari it generally restarts. It says it has a kernel error or something along those lines. This will happen maybe 10 times. This happened for the older version of Safari and the new updated version (4.0.1)
I have also had issues with iworks 09, it would not even start. When it was double clicked it would open and immediately close. I tried to remove the program and reinstall but the same problem occurs.
I have also had issues with the OS X panicking and and requiring you to restart the computer. This happens maybe once a week.
What's wrong!? Any ideas on what may be causing this? I am most worried about the Safari restart and the panicking. Thanks for any help!
Panic Log
Fri Jul 3 09:32:22 2009
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x001AB0FE): Kernel trap at 0x0032ea5e, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x80010033, CR2: 0xe9568040, CR3: 0x01896000, CR4: 0x00000660
EAX: 0xe956803f, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x05ad36d0, EDX: 0x05ad36d0
CR2: 0xe9568040, EBP: 0x2a33fd78, ESI: 0x05ad36d0, EDI: 0x00000001
EFL: 0x00010202, EIP: 0x0032ea5e, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x00000010
Error code: 0x00000000
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x2a33fa78 : 0x12b4c6 (0x45ec20 0x2a33faac 0x13355c 0x0)
0x2a33fac8 : 0x1ab0fe (0x468ecc 0x32ea5e 0xe 0x468678)
0x2a33fba8 : 0x1a1703 (0x2a33fbc0 0x1800000 0x2a33fd78 0x32ea5e)
0x2a33fbb8 : 0x32ea5e (0xe 0x48 0x20c90010 0x10)
0x2a33fd78 : 0x1f839a (0x2a33fdac 0x246 0x2a33fdd8 0x1dc282)
0x2a33fdd8 : 0x1eebce (0x5ad36d0 0x2a33febc 0x5 0x2a33ff54)
0x2a33fe68 : 0x39100b (0x44aa5c0 0x2a33febc 0x1 0x2a33ff54)
0x2a33ff18 : 0x39117c (0x2a33ff54 0x44aa5c0 0xa1622c 0x0)
0x2a33ff78 : 0x3e2e3b (0x448704c 0x4339000 0x4339044 0xffffffff)
0x2a33ffc8 : 0x1a1bfa (0x4979840 0x0 0x1a40b5 0x4979840)
No mapping exists for frame pointer
Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0xb01219f8
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Safari
Mac OS version:
9J61
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.7.0: Tue Mar 31 22:52:17 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1228.12.14~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBook5,1 (Mac-F42D89C8)

Answer 1

The X Lab article is indeed an excellent source of comprehensive info, but if you want to go with the odds consider that bad RAM is probably the #1 cause of kernel panics, & the chance of bad RAM is highest if you have installed aftermarket RAM modules, especially from sources that don't do 100% burn-in testing of every module before it is shipped.
If that sounds like something that might apply to you (& probably even if it does not), a good first step is to run the Apple Hardware Test on your Mac. For late model Intel-based Macs, this is simple: just restart the computer, holding down the "D" key until you see an all blue screen with a tabbed window in the center telling you that the Mac has started up in the test. Click the box for an extended test & let it run. If it reports any problems, this is almost certainly the cause of the panics.