4:3 16M vs 4:3 10M
 

i just bought a new sony point and shoot camera but not quite sure on how to use it yet. just wondering would 4:3 16M give better quality photos ?? and does the M mean megapixels?

Megapixels between 16 and 10 don't mean that much - unless you plan on printing them in larger sizes, ie, poster size. But even then, I've printed off a 16x20 poster with a 10 megapixel picture and it looks just great.

You're going to be more concerned about the "quality" of the picture. I believe Sony will have a setting that'll be super fine or fine picture quality. You'll want to choose the best one out of those.