I just need to laptop for day to day activities such as email, web browsing, and music. I usually don't play games on the computer so that won't be an issue. I just it for school.
Does the macbook come with bootcamp or is it only the mbp?
BootCamp is a part of Leopard, so it will come with all macs. Judging by your needs, a macbook would be great. Since you're not doing anything graphically intense, the integrated graphics would be more than enough. And if you just want to do some occasional light gaming, there's no need to fork over hundreds of dollars for a macbook pro. Sure you won't get the best performance ever, but you'll have a lot more money in your pocket.
I say go for the macbook. Especially if this is your first mac, there's no need to spend $2000+ when you don't even need all of the power in the macbook pro. Use the money that you save over the macbook pro to get some accessories. That difference will easily be able to get you iWork (or office, I prefer the former but it's a personal choice), a case, wireless mouse, and wireless keyboard. Even then you'd still have some extra cash, so you could get some more ram (2gb should last you a long time for your needs), maybe a bigger hard drive if you think that you would fill the standard one up, or possibly make the investment in AppleCare. If the performance between the two machines seems like a problem to you, I can assure you that normal day to day tasks won't notice any difference in speed between the macbook and the pro.
If you're a college student, also be sure to check out the education discounts. This doesn't apply to any other students, though. It would save you $100 on a macbook and $200 on a macbook pro along with a bit more if you decided on any custom upgrades from Apple. The 3-year warranty is also significantly less expensive if you're a college student.
does anyone have experience in switch from windows to mac? is it a big jump? will I have to purchase a new printer and other peripherials to accomadate the mac?
will it work with my current wireless network at my house? or will i have to purchase one of the airport base stations?
I made the switch over the summer and it was very easy. I picked up on the whole operating system in less than two days. Your printer will be fine and it is very likely that everything else will be as well. Right when you first turn it on, it will detect your wifi network. Here, I have the only mac and it plays nice with everything that the PCs use and what I had with my old PC. You won't need a new router unless you want the features of Apple's routers, which aren't really worth the money if you already have a functional one.
Also, you mentioned that you have an iPod. Just back up your iTunes content onto CDs or DVDs and restore them onto a mac. Then when you sync your iPod, it will erase itself, become mac-friendly, and put all of your content back on. It shouldn't be a problem.
Good luck
