About To Switch To Mac...general Questions, Multitrack recording & mastering on Mac Options

[EletrikGutar182]

I currently am, and have been, a PC user. I am making the switch to Mac this week. I am ordering a 14" iBook G4 (933 MHz, 40 Gig HDD, etc...)

I currently have a pretty basic setup involving a digital 8-track recorder that I record onto and then connect to my PC for mastering (SoundForge). I am thinking of downloading ProTools free to start off with, after I buy either the iMic or the Mobile Pre.

Will ProTools FREE work with OS X?

Would Garage Band be a good idea?

Will I be able to use the USB interface (probably the Griffin iMic...) easily with ProTools or any other software?

Does anybody have any other reccomendations besides ProTools?

As a fallback option, If I wanted to do mastering on the Mac as I did with soundforge, what is a good freeware or inexpensive mastering program I should use?

P.S., I am not a newbie when it comes to music and recording, so if there are any suggestions of good programs that aren't necessarily meant for beginners, That is fine.

Thanks in advance,
Alex

[Synthetic]

Motu 828mkii, 896, what-have-you,
that still leaves the question of a literal/physical "front end."

Personal POV, "mousing" it ain't cutting it.

Juss mine,

http://www.macmusic.org/agora/forums/style...s/11/icon14.gif

ohh... i see.... you want more control thus the Digi002?

I would have a look at the new Tascam firewire interface as a comparable unit to Digi002... it has control surface maybe with more control than Digi002 though I can't say if quality is better. A recent discussion on the device can be found here somewhere if you do a search... i recall a couple of members who had gotten one and were quite happy with it and I had thought about it too only my thoughts were dreams since its not in my budget