BTW Bet, there's another handy feature macs have - you can connect two together to easily transfer info etc., You get a Firewire and plug both ends into both macs, then turn on one and let it start up. Once done, turn on the second one and hold down the 'T' key on the keyboard and keep it held down until you see a kind of big 'Y' appear on that macs screen - this is the Firewire symbol. Now the second mac has basically become like an external hard drive to the first one, which saves loads of time when transferring information files etc., between them, especially graphics / video which are quite large. So if someone else in your family, or a friend has one, you can hook them together. Since my wife has one too, we occasionally use each other's macs to back up data if we are doing any re-installment of start-up CDs etc., where data might get lost or damaged.

Garageband is very useful as mentioned above, and you can also get Audacity etc., - there's been a lot about that on other threads about converting old vinyl to CD. To do that you'll also need a thing called the iMic which is basically an in-line adapter for audio inputs. It generally retails for about 20 or 30 dollars. I've used garageband to record my guitar then added lead over the rhythm, or say another instrument, like a mandolin. Obviously it's not a recording studio but it gives you a general idea of the sound and allows you to experiment.

Bonnie Shaljean - thanks for the tip on Scrivener - it looks really interesting - on my way to check it out now.