Possible Switcher...Need Advice

You can get Virtual PC 6 which will allow you to run Windows XP, but IMO I couldn't stand to use it actually trying to get some work done. it's OK if you must have XP for just a few little things but not much good for anything else.
So far as RAM goes I'd just get as much as you can afford, OS X loves memory so go for over 512Mb if you can.
As for the SuperDrive, it depends, do you need to burn DVD's?
Don't worry, you will love your Mac, I switched over a year ago before the whole 'switch' campaign, my PC sits next to me now as I type this on my PowerMac switched off

 

first, let me assure you that there is nothing about which you should be scared. moving from windows to the mac os is great.

VirtualPC from connectix (http://www.connectix.com/products/vpc6m.html) will run xp rather well on the minibook. however, since you're making the switch, i would consider looking for programs that accomplish the same tasks as the ones for which you would use virtual pc. just let us know what you are running on your pc and we'd be glad to help you find mac alternatives.

about the superdrive; if you plan on doing dvd authoring in any serious capacity, i would recomend the superdrive. apple seems to have gotten rather weird about dvd authoring and has made idvd incompatable with third party dvd burners (although there are some tricky ways around this). formac makes external dvd burners as well as software similar to idvd, of course, their dvd authoring package costs money. i believe dvd studio pro allows you to burn with external drives (i'm not sure, it will tell you on the website), but it's a pricey package and i would only recomend it if you are going to be doing advanced dvd authoring.

i would recomend about 512megs of ram to make the most of osx. really, you want as much as you can get, but for general tasks, 512 will be more than enough (my g3 imac works great with 384).

i hope that this answered a few of your questions, and please let us know if there is anything else with which we can help you. there is no reason at all to be scared, once you make the switch, you'll never look back.

 

You will not regret it.

Just look through this entire website. Look at the thousands of Mac zealots who are also recent converts from the Windows side of things. You don't find angry Mac users gathering at their own anti-Apple portals the way you find relieved ex-PC users proclaiming the glory of their new Macintoshes.

If you ever need help or have specific questions/concerns you want addressed, you know where to find it. The community behind the Apple brand is one that is drooled over by every major corporation in the world. Can't wait to hear back from you the day you get your new mini PowerBook.

Once you go Mac, you'll never go back. Period.

 

May I point you to a section on this site.

http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?daysprune=30&forumid=42

This is full of switch stories...