my first post/a few simple noob questions

One of the biggest adjustments for me when I got my first Mac was its aversion to full-screen windows. The zoom command (plus button in the top-left corner of the window) behaves differently in each application, which is a little annoying. However, most applications are normally designed to be run windowed. That's especially the case with larger monitors. Your new iMac has a screen resolution of at least 1680x1050, and most websites are designed for a width of 1000 pixels. That means that while you can certainly size a browser window wider than that, you're wasting a lot of screen real estate that could be used for other purposes. Text is easier to read with narrower columns, and so forth.

In Safari, the zoom button only makes the window as large as the website. You can of course resize it and most other applications by dragging the handle in the lower-right corner of the window.

Yes, you can customize your homepage. Go into Safari -> Preferences and tweak things to your heart's content.

 

No you are not limited to apple's website for either safari or firefox.

Go to Safari -> Preferences -> General : Change the homepage from there

It should be similar for Firefox

 

In FF, to change the home page:

Firefox -> Preferences -> General

 

OSX's zoom button makes the window as big as the content it's displaying. Not, as Windows does, as big as the monitor. OSX has a different way of working. That's why it's called switching.

Pretty much all apps have a preferences panel. You can get to it from the app menu or by pressing CMD and the comma button (CMD+,).

Also, I'd argue that Safari is the best browser on the Mac. I'd stay away from Firefox.

 

And there are plenty of people who would argue the exact opposite.

 

I personally prefer Firefox because its more user friendly, but Safari's the fastest browser on Windows or Mac by far, period.

 

Spend a few more dollars and buy David Pogue's Switching to the Mac. It will help you make the transition. Best wishes.