1) Dreamweaver CC works the same as other versions of Dreamweaver. the difference is the delivery method. YOu can only download Dreamweaver CC, there is no option for a physical disk anymore.
once installed, though, you can still access site files on your local testing server,
2) or access site files through FTP.
3) The "cloud" in the case of DW CC is storage space on Adobe's servers that you access through your Adobe account.
OS: Go with the Pro version, windows 7, or 8.1, your choice, but you will need the Pro version in order to install IIS. IIS will be needed for running classic ASP
RAM: The 4 GB standard for RAM has to do with how much the OS can access. A 32 bit OS can only access 4 GB of ram, to access more RAM, you need a 64 Bit OS.
Myself, I Would go with an Intel i7 processor, with 8 GB of RAM, 512GB SSD main drive for the OS and a 3TB secondary Drive, Win 8.1 Pro and a upper-middle of the line graphics adaptor.
I do Audio Processing / Recording in addition to web development.
