A:AnswerNormal use, yes like Office and web surfing, but for more robust applications like the Adobe Creative Suite or 3D modeling you’ll want as much ram as possible, min 32 gigs for a less frustrating user experience.
A:AnswerIt should work with the external drives. You will likely need to format the drive. Additional software that comes with those drives will not work unless you have a mac version. (most big brands have the option)
A:AnswerAs long as your laptop and desktop computers are running compatible systems (One isn't running a much older OS than the other) everything is seamless.