Switching from a pc to a mac (long)

Question

m thinking of switching the computers in my family to macs from pcs but have a slew of questions and need some advice
if be switching 2 computers. computer # 1 is a pentium d 840 with 3gb ram,a 230gb internal harddrive and 2 external usb hard drives 150gb and 320 gb both using ntfs. computer #2 is a p4 3ghz with 1gb ram a 60gb internal hd and a 100gb external hd running ntfs. both computers use wireless usb keyboards and mice. i also have a hp photosmart 3310 wireless all in one printer wireless connected to my dsl router.
What Mac configurations would you recommend to replace my 2 pcs? im thinking of a macbook pro for the p4 and an iMAC for the pentium d.
if I were to switch to a mac i have to be able to do several things as follows.
1. find a good html editor ( i currently use an old version of dreamweaver and would like something nearly as good/easy to use.
2. be able to download microsoft publisher documents and edit them with publisher 2002 ( would i have to use boot camp or parallells to do this.
3. if im using boot camp and im running osx if i download a file attachment like a publisher file and then reboot into windows xp will i be able to use the file i just downloaded or will i have to "cop it to the windows side"
4. will the wireless keyboards/mice work on a mac?
5. is there a good mac ftp program for transfering several files at once to a server.
6. will intuit quicken for a mac read a file saved with quicken 2006 for a pc?
7. will my ntfs drives be readable/writeable by osx?
8. will a standard pc monitor work with a powerbook?.
Thanks in advance for any and all recommendations
Jeff

Answer 1

I can get you started with a few answers. Feel free to search the forums for keywords, but I imagine a few people can provide most, if not all your answers.
Dreamweaver is available for Mac. There is also iWeb from Apple.
We need to know which brand of wireless mice and keyboards you are talking about. Generally, most will work but you may lose the ability to customize buttons if there isn't a compatible driver from the manufacturer. If you have real specific needs, then simple plug-and-play works with basic features of USB input devices.
There are several options for ftp software. Check versiontracker.com for ftp programs like interarchy and fetch. (Check versiontracker for other types of Mac software also, incl. HTML editors.)
You should be able to use your external USB drives on your new Macs. Apple has documentation for switchers that gives you more information about networking and drive formatting ...
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304719
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304721
I've used different pc monitors with different Macs, you can usually get an adapter.
Quicken might be a problem. I've been wanting to buy that but have heard that Quicken's software hasn't always been Mac-friendly or updated near the quality of the pc version. But with an intel iMac, that might be software you will want to use with boot camp or parallel. I think there is a Quicken forum on their site but it's been a while ago I checked. I gave up on Quicken because I also have a PDA and they just weren't fast enough with making the product worthy of spending the same amount as the pc versions for less or half-done features. You might find others who use the software who can give you more information.
I don't know much about the emulation software. I'm not there yet. However, if you have external drives and a network, I don't see why there would be a problem with downloading directly to one of those external drives for use by any other computer on your home network. I have a wired/wireless home network with Mac and pc sharing printers, internet and accessing files.
That should get you started and others will fill in the gaps.
Good luck.