Glad to be of help so far.
For giving someone else a copy of your recordings it kind of depends on a couple of things:
Firstly, if the other person has the same recording software as you have then you could simply burn a copy of your session (including the audio files remember) onto a CDR and give it to them, and they can then simply open the session up on their computer.
If they haven't got the same software as you then what you can do is burn all of the individual audio files onto a CDR (as wav files), and then they can import all of this audio into their own recording software programme.
These two options so far are if you want to give your song to someone else to re-mix. If you just want to give someone a stereo mix then just burn your stereo mix onto a CDR.
I would say to forget ADAT for now. ADAT is a digital 8-track recording system which looks a bit like VHS video and is actually an entirely different method to record music than computer recording software, so since you're getting a computer based hard disk recording system you won't need an ADAT set-up. Also, they're not that common, at least with project studio set-ups they're not, so the chances are the person you want to give your recordings to will likely not have it (I may be wrong). If you've got a computer based recording system then the easiest and cheapest way to copy your sessions and audio is simply using CDs.
As for your other qestion about mixers and that, I really should have asked you a couple of questions last time, so I'll do that now before I go into that:
Firstly, what type of recordings are you looking at doing. For example, is it just to record the odd bass line or guitar part, or do you want to record full band stuff and record full drum kits?
Secondly, what kind of budget do you think you are roughly looking at, not including your computer budget (which you may already have anyway), but your budget for recording equipment?
Cool Edit Pro is good, it is a very user friendly programme that is ideal for someone who is just getting into computer recording. I haven't used Cakewalk so no comment. If you were still undecided on that front and looking for suggestions then might I suggest Cubase. Cubase SX is a really really good programme, and they do a cheaper version called Cubase SL, I haven't personally used that one myself, but I think it's basically the same as SX, it just has a few less options that would probably not be needed by you anyhow, and I guess it would be around the same price range as Cool Edit V2. As for mastering, maybe look into Steinberg's Wavelab. I've used both and, although Soundforge is good, I personally find Wavelab very user friendly when using to master and it also gives good results.
Right that's about it for now, hope I didn't blab on. Actually, there's no point in saying that because I did
