Can someone explain to me in "NOOB" terms how Time Machine actually works?

[maf2k8]

Ok so i finally rid of my PC and i am loving my new iMac i7.

Aside it, I have a 1.5 TB external HD sitting there ( with nothing on it )

I was going to use the external for all my movies BUT i already have one for that purpose....

Now when i formatted it, It asked do i want to use it for Time Machine.

I know nothing about Macs at the moments ( Windows user all my life ) so i wasnt sure.

When i did use Windows 7, I never used its built in restore point feature, I always turned it off. ( i am all about speed and having something running in the background that always writes to disk i thought would slow my machine down, so i disabled it )

So i am thinking of putting the external to use for time machine but just curious how it works?

Pretty much if my machine ever goes down, blows up or just crashes i assume once i get a new one or get it fixes i would use my external, and it would restore everything from Photos, Music, Apps, Contacts, etc, etc?

Does it always write to the disc in the background thru-out the day?

I like to delete a lot of stuff from time to time ( installed programs, not like them, delete them ) so does it update itself when i delete also?

Does it work like Windows restore to where you set it to restore at a certain date?

 

[iBookG4user]

Pretty much if my machine ever goes down, blows up or just crashes i assume once i get a new one or get it fixes i would use my external, and it would restore everything from Photos, Music, Apps, Contacts, etc, etc?

Yes, it would allow you to do that.

Does it always write to the disc in the background thru-out the day?

It backs up your data once an hour.

I like to delete a lot of stuff from time to time ( installed programs, not like them, delete them ) so does it update itself when i delete also?

No, as one of the main selling points of Time Machine is being able to restore single files that you deleted accidentally.