Agree with Big G on all counts. I only have an old Powerbook G4 and an iPhone, but they just work. I have MS Office for Mac and it too just works - no seizures or outages like I get on my PC at work. 'Mail' is simple to use and has all the things you need without any of the redundant stuff in Outlook. You get everything you need on a Mac, only adding MS Office if you really need it.
I have mine on all the time, probably only switch it off a few times a year - no issues. Regard your MBP as the hub of your Mac machines and it works fine. Use whichever you need to do what you want. With i CLoud you'll never really notice what you are using as it will all be there for you - except Apps on the MBP!! Hope you enjoy using Apple, as you can see many of us do. HTH
