With the Apple computer you get a program called "Mail".
I use it all the time. Unless she is handling more than 1000 emails per day it is the easiest email program you have ever seen. I have Entourage and it just gathers electronic dust on my hard drive.
When you go to the Apple store you can get the Student and Teacher version of Microsoft Office for about $125. This does not have Virtual PC, but it has all of the other office programs.
The only things I can not do with a Mac which I can do with a Windows Computer are:
1. Access avanced functions on the Investors' Business Daily site,
2. Access the Value Line site,
3. Run Microsoft Project.
I can do all of these with Virtual PC, but found it better to buy a cheap ($600) Windows laptop exclusively for these functions.
Unless your wife is a heavy-duty stock trader or a project manager for a major company she will be happier with a Mac and the MS Office suite.
My wife is a college professor. She is a heavy-duty computer user. Exclusively Windows until about 5 years ago. The she tried a Mac, and now will use nothing else. They really are better and easier.
If she takes digital photos the Mac will save hours of frustration.
I think I just saw Office for the Mac with a project manager. Don't know if that was Project or not.
Digital photos are a must for her. The PC she has is fantastic as Windows XP does a much better job of it than any other Microsoft OS. Hell, our television (Sony WEGA) has a memory slot and can display pictures. It runs Linux!
BTW, the HP 3500 color laser printer does a great job of printing photos. Because it is a flat printer and not a rotating drum type, it doesn't crease the paper and can print 12ppm color. It does flatten glossy paper due to the heat involved. Maybe there is a glossy paper designed for lasers?