ahoy, need help =)

my 1st day in maya... and i have some questions, please help if u can
wheres the damn cut tool?
how do i make instance copy?
how can i preview stuff like "chamfer vertex" "bevel"?
what are those frickin cubes near arrows when extruding etc?
is it possible to lock the move/scale etc to 2 axises and not only 3 or 1?
how do i connect 2 vertices?
any similar tool to "tesselate" from max?

more to come

tnx

1: Edit -> duplicate special (option box) -> check "instance"
2: have you tried hiting number 5?
3:guess that should be the local / world directions
4: hold control in the axises that you want to keep still, and keep the ctrl down while dragging the mouse
5:use merge vertices, is at polygons menu (at far upper left) -> edit mesh -> merge