[McG]

this is a great thread and i never thought that i would post in it...but here goes.

I am a die hard PC guy...and that isn't going to change any time soon. it is just the way that it is. however...given this approach, i have generally not spent any time following affaires d'apple. and now i am looking for a little cp wisdom. truthfully, i'm embarrassed to be asking such ridiculous apple questions because i live and breathe on the pc platform. in fact...i have been a "friends and family" helpdesk for years and years which i am hoping to move away from.

My 17 year old is starting university in the fall. We all know about apples on campus and the "cool thing" but this is about functionality. she doesn't need to be a star on the computer...she just needs the darn thing to work. so, for her...assuming portability, what does she really need? if i said 15" laptop to start...i see quite a few options. what would a student need? i can see that i need to buy mac office it looks like...but what other software does a guy need out of the gate? any recommendations?

also, can this laptop coexist on my home network? i have a windows home server that is awesome...and of course the other computers connect to that. but will the apple? will it play xvid/.avi files?

now the tricky part. i have about 3 seniors all waiting for what i find out about the apple for my daughter. i get the fact that apples are super duper easy to work with especially if you don't need all of the funky stuff that gives folk grief on windows. so, would the same specs apply for the seniors as the student's gear? secondly, am i about to relinquish my role as friends and family helpdesk support? i am quite reluctant to help acquire a platform that i can't support over the phone. if anyone has any seniors stories that they are able to share...i am most interested. the seniors in particular are limited in what they want to do...its the usual basic stuff...email, pictures, browsing, the occasional computer game, and banking...the usual stuff. my gut tells me that the apple is right in that niche spot. am i right?

thanks to everyone...and very sorry for jumping in.