Since you are not a beginner, I would suggest jumping right into some more advanced things, assuming you are already comfortable with command line. (Can't see that you wouldn't be after 25 yrs in IT.) One link you can't live without AFAIAC is macosxhints.com. Definitely download Quicksilver and start setting up some helpful triggers and such. Coming over from Windoze, it can feel a bit overwhelming while you get used to the speed that you can do so much, especially with QS.

Other software that I find a must (Search MacUpdate or VersionTracker): Yojimbo. Saft plugin for Safari. AppZapper. OmniOutliner Pro. A good newsreader. (I don't want to start the NNW vs. all the other guys, but I would recommend endo, NewsFire or NNW. Try them all and then decide which one to plunk down the change for.) iWork because Keynote and Pages smash Office for presentations and desktop publishing. SpamSieve. SMARTReporter. A good text editor such as SubEthaEdit (my choice), TextMate, or BBEdit.

You have a couple options. Personally, I eschew all things Micro$oft AMAP and Office on Mac isn't all that great really. I recommend NeoOffice (It would have been in my list above if I weren't going to reference it here.) if you need a local app. If you aren't using the SS very much and it's not sensitive data, you could move to Google Spreadsheet.

Not to be snarky, but the computers we are discussing are Macs. Network card ID's are MAC's. Not a big deal, but a bit of a peeve of mine.