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I'm very close to breaking down and buying an M&P. Made the transition from being a 1911 guy to being more of a glock guy after finding that I shot a Glock 26 the first time I ever shot a Glock than I did with my own 1911 that I'd had for years. I love my Glocks, but have been thinking of picking up an M&P to use in instructing new shooters.

I was pawing over an M&P at the gun shop today. They've really got the grip and controls "right". It feels great in the hand. The one I looked at had the fiber optic front sight. Liked them a lot. I also liked the lines of it. As much as I love my Glocks, it's not hard to improve on the appearance of them (unless square is you're idea of cool). The only thing I didn't like about it is the "vague" trigger reset. I'm used to the really pronounced reset on my glocks and 1911. It felt a good bit further forward as well. I'm sure I could get used to it, but was still disappointing.

As far as caliber, I think 9mm is the best way to go for a beginner shooter. It's less expensive to shoot, and has really light recoil in all but the smallest and lightest pistols. That lets a beginner focus on the fundamentals and makes it less likely that they'll develop flinching and other bad habits. I can't count how many people I see at the range each time who are shooting larger calibers horribly, rather than learning to run a 9mm (or 22lr) well. With good, quality hollowpoints, it's also a more than respectable defensive caliber. That said, 90% of people can learn to shoot all the common defensive calibers well, it's just a little more difficult.

I'd highly recommend finding a range that rents, and trying two or three calibers out at a minimum. If you can swing it, try out a few different models as well. You just may find, as I have more than once, what feels best in the gun store doesn't shoot the best on the range.