[Dre007]

1. a hard reset restores ur phone back to factory defualts (or to whatever custom rom u are using), and a soft reset just reboots ur phone. Like a pc, u reboot ur pc when it acts up or starts running slow.
2. For apps, u just download or transfer the appropriate cab file to ur phone. search around the forums (ppcgeeks, xda, etc) to find what programs u want/need
3. yeah, i believe the latest is 3.1??? i think. Theres many threads covering this. use the search feature ^^^
4. Flashing to a different rom just practically makes ur life a whole lot easier if u like to custmize the hell out of ur phone. Of course u can do everything yourself, but finding the appropriate rom that fits what u need gets the job done so much quicker