Jim, I wouldn't bother with Vista either. It's overrated, overpriced and buggy as hades. I dunno' about putting XP on a perfectly good Mac, unless there are PC apps you can't find for a Mac. Yes, Parallels will allow you to run both DOS. I haven't mastered WINE for Linux so I keep a PC box handy. Linux, XP, UNIX and Mac in the house. Well, Mac is sort'a based on UNIX, hense the least amount of critters.
I forgot about openoffice for Mac, was thinking Linux. That's a good choice. What about mail and calendar? Do you need to sync to a handheld?
No, not saying you will have any issues getting to the internet. I'm saying that your PC's may have trouble accessing the Mac over the home network (intranet). Just go to Places|Network and assign a static address and DNS, change the net name to what you have your home net titled.
I still find it hard to access a printer plugged into the Mac using printer sharing. The Mac blocks inbound traffic and I can't figure out how to make it behave! I have shares assigned on the Mac and the PCs don't see 'em.
I gave in and bought a network printer and plugged it into the router in that room. Sheesh, 4 routers now.....
You made a nice purchase, I'm sure the cool features and s/w will make you go 'WOW'.
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