Hello all, brand new user (Fresh Meat!)

First a little about me and my phones...

My first phone that I owned with customizable options was the Motorola V360. I found some really cool sites that gave tons of information and had different software/OS downloads and I was changing my phone to something new every week... I was instantly addicted to having the same phone as alot of people I knew, but having it be completely different than theirs.... Had it for 3 years before I finally decided a change was in order.

I switched to the HTC Shadow (Juno for the Europeans) Windows Mobile 6 was a dream come true to me... there were so many menus and options for me to play with! Then I found Allshadow.com and found out how to make themes, found some really cool software to use, and got some tips that I hadn't found on my own.
Changed my OS to windows 6.1 3 different times. Again, alot of people envied me and my awesome phone skills (with much thanks to all of the super coders that made it possible.. I wish I had some of the knowledge they do when it comes to the actual coding)

Now, I've had the Shadow for only a year (today even! Happy Anniversary Shadow) but an opportunity has come up for me to switch it out for a Blackberry Curve 8320.. and so comes the questions..

Contacts:
I have them all saved on the phone because the SIM can't handle the info I have for most of my contacts, synced with Outlook of course, Can I get them switched over to the Curve relatively easily without having to go through and editing a bunch of them to get them back to what I consider normal?
Music:
I have a stereo Bluetooth headset that I know will work with it, but I don't know much about the music player on the phone... opinions on stock music player and suggested downloads please.

Themes:
I've seen some pretty cool ones and I would like to take some and build on them to make them more me... Hard? Easy? Time consuming?

Ringtones:
I hate stock ringtones, I have a library of about 200 that I've either gotten from songs, or have meshed together from different sound bites (currently my txt alert is a turkey gobble followed by shotgun! LOL ) Will I get to keep and use them on the Curve?

Finally...
The learning Curve? I've started on the FAQ and it seems pretty straight forward, but I'm so used to my Shadows' os and menus I'm skeptical if I'll be willing to learn the new BB OS...

Sorry for the super long post, but I got everything knocked out at once ;)

Thanks in advance, hope to see you all around
Dihce

Welcome to the forums! I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.

You should have no trouble getting your contacts to your Blackberry via the Desktop Manager software that will come with your new device on CD (or downloaded from the RIM website).

The music player isn't an iPod, but it does handle all the basics very adequately. Search the Media Center thread here on BBF for some ideas on additional downloads. And you will want to get a MicroSDto store your music on.

Plazmic software is availible to allow you to make your own Themes, and a lot of customization can be achived by simply changing the wallpaper behind a given theme. I would be careful about how you go about making someone else's theme "your own" with customization, as many theme builders are pretty proprietary (and understandably so) about their creations.

Depending on the format of your existing ringtones , you should be able to use them on your Blackberry. Here is a list of supported formats:
What kind of ringtones/audio can my Blackberry have? - BlackBerryFAQ

Blackberrys do navigate somewhat differently from the Shadow, but they are very intuitive. I figured out my first one in about a day. There are also all sorts of customization that you can doiwith the application icons (hiding them, moving them around on the home screen) that will assist you in navigation, as well as some pretty nifty keypad shortcuts.

Wirelessly posted

I guess I should've been a little more clear about the themes... but making them my own I didn't mean I would repost them with minor changes...
I like to look at what 2 or more people did and look at the changes between them to figure out how they did it, and maybe get some ideas of my own from that... I've never posted a theme, I just like to have a wide range of themes for when I get bored of one

I suggest you take a look at the FAQ. There is a wealth of info there which will most likely answer most of your questions.