With outlook one could use multiple e mail accounts & upon clicking on the Outlook icon, one could see all e mail in one spot, can I do anything like this with Vista & Windows mail, if so how?

Also, same concept, I had sounds applied on XP when I got e mail, can we do the same with vista?

Yes. See the Help file:
"Add or remove a Windows Mail account

You can set up a variety of different accounts using Windows Mail. You can set up a single personal e‑mail account, or you might also add your work e‑mail account and some newsgroups as well. Windows Mail makes managing multiple accounts easy by putting each account in its own folder.

Windows Mail supports three types of accounts: mail, news (newsgroups), and directory services. Directory services are online address books that are typically offered by organizations such as colleges and businesses.

Before you add an account, be sure that you have the logon and server information for your e‑mail account. For details about the information you'll need to set up an account, see Where to find your e‑mail account information.

To add a Windows Mail account"

where do i set this up, i have verizon as a isp??

Where do I set this up? Verizon is my isp?

Open Windows Mail/Tools/Accounts
Get the settings from Verizon.