Laptops, mac compatibility with windows, and making videos?

I plan on getting a laptop and I want to be able to make videos on it as well as use it for school and internet. I've heard that macs are the best if you want to make videos on it. Trouble is I don't know if mac is compatible with windows and that's what I have on my computer at home and what I'm most familiar with. I'm not sure mainly because I know apple has a reputation of only working with apple products. So I have a few questions. Are macs compatible with windows(i.e. would I be able to use windows programs on a mac)? Will I still be able to synchronize my laptop with my home computer(if said laptop is a mac). Will I be able to use mp3 to play music and my laptop and/or synchronize an mp3 player with it to download music files onto it. Would a mac be able to synchronize with a PDA that uses windows? Also what are the best laptops for making videos other than macs and/or what sorts of requirments must a laptop fill to be able to make videos?