Torrents... wft?

[andrea_faerie]

Alright, so I'm having a blond moment.

I've got a few questions about torrents:

1) What exactly are they?
2) How do I extract the files?
3) What kind of software do I need & where do I get it?
4) is it safe? (My compy is a Mac G5 if that helps)
5) how do they work?

Please help!