first welcome to tipb, make sure you have your contacts saved to outlook, and iTunes will import them into your phone if have windows, if you have a mac, anything thats in your address book will be put into your phone.
and speaking of iTunes, iTunes is the backbone for your iPhone, backups, apps, music, etc etc, iPhone does have tethering, what it'll be for VZW hasn't been announced yet of course.... as for emails, there is a little less customization when it comes to sounds for emails unless your jailbroken, which is topic for a time for now, gmail you can setup thru the exchange server and it'll be pushed right to the phone, you'll love the full emails you actually get, no more unnecessary truncated emails for whatever reason
Honestly if there is an apple store close to you, go in an play with one, they have MANY on display you can tinker with, get a jump on what it'll be like
I can't think of much else as i'm tired lol... i'm sure everyone else here have their own bits and pieces that i'm sure i've missed
Welcome to tipb again, this is your source for everything