1) Again, and see my other post on this topic, the two are about balanced.
2) Depends on the group level/your equipment/your aa/and most importantly your reputation. heh.
3) Yes. Mages also have the CB belt quest if ya make a gnome or high elf. Alternatively though all the classes have similar quests. Look em up in the newbie zone of your choosing.
4) From BST spell vendors. heh. Honestly, there should be a list under the spell section. Also there are websites dedicated to BSTS the same way there are ones dedicated to mages. The info's out there.
5) You do that by making a hotkey and typing in what the previous posters wrote down. The hotkeys are made in the social section of your interface. Can't tell ya how to get there as that depends entirely on what UI you're using. For most of them though it's (I believe) the 3rd or 4th tab in the section where it says sit/walk etc. Once you get to the right window, (the one with all the little boxes that say stuff), select a different social section so they're blank, right click one, make a title for it, type in what they said. From there you left click and hold on it then drag it over to your hotkey bank. Hotkeys are VITAL for every class. Bit off topic, but some of my favorites are 1./pet target 2./assist 3./pet report health, which targets whatever your pet is beating on, and gives you a short buff listing. The pet window is nice, but it takes way too damn long to get your mouse over there. Another nice one is 1./pet back off 2./pet attack (the #. indicates a new line btw) which switches targets for your pet. Comes in handy if you're doing Crowd Control, which happens unfortunately.
Forgive me if I dumbed that down a bit much, it's hard to tell what level you are play wise, so best to not take chances. eh?
Regarding the soloing thing, let's not make this into a pissing contest. There are things I solo that a necro can't. Likewise there are things necros can solo that I can't.
Hope that clears some stuff up =)
Faelawen Starfyre, the Legendary Mad Mage of Povar