kahpvtt

skyrim is set 200 years after oblivion.

also: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Elder_Scrolls

abilities are gone. upon level up you can choose to increase either hp, magicka or stamina by 10 points. also you get to buy one perk.

the level up is achieved by increasing a skill. the further developed the skill is the more it contributes to the next levelup.

this is as much as I know pre-release :)

@Omega: with your quad you've got power enough for the draw distance and polycount. what you'll not enjoy is maxing the graphical fidelity regarding effects, posts processing as well as anti-aliasing. for that your graphics card will likely come up short.

still, you'll enjoy the game with much improved textures cause your gfx card can load em all up without worries. you should feel quite confident.

I however enjoy pretty much the same setup just with an older dual core and will likely have to cut the draw distance short or go bite the bullet and upgrade ;)