I'll answer your questions in my own way, Although I think farhan did a good job.
In terms of how we see the Quran compared to the way I stated my view of the OT. I would not compare the 2 in the sense you are inquiring. As a Muslim, one of the fundamental beliefs is that the Quran is the completely inerrant word of God (Allah by name). It wasn't written by man (in its original form it was the words taught to Prophet Mouhammed (PBUH)) and if you read the abnoxiously long post (sorry didn't mean to write that much) I put up, I explain some of the ways it has been preserved. The difference is that the OT was not given to 1 person. It is a collection of books that include revalation, history, law, and personal opinions that were passed down over the years, including some books referenced that do not exist in either OT or modern Talmud writings. For example in Exodus (supposedly written by Moses), Moses dies. It can be said that maybe he knew how long he would live... ok. No problem, it's up to individual choice what to make of it. The Quran is written direct. Much like most of Leviticus and deuteronomy. Little allegory, very little personal input if any is needed. It adresses many of the argued points amongst Christian Denomonations and gives a logical POV and direction. It doesn't give many stories of exactly what happened, but rather what is to be learned from those stories. This is a long winded explanation, to say basically I look at the Bible knowing there is Human input while I look through the Quran knowing there is none. I started out thinking it would, but found later there to be no way once I had read it.
Mouhammed (PBUH) is not the author, just to clear that up. He is a Prophet of Allah (AKA YHWH, Elohim, God) and Allah revealed the Quran to the Prophet through the angel Gabriel. When he was first tapped into prophethood he was illiterate. A simpleton who knew business, and operated by word of mouth alone. Later he did learn to read/write according to many strong Hadiths, however he never "wrote" the Quran. He memorized and taught it. He wrote pieces for people (this is discussed in other post so I will stop here).
As for the practice of PBUH after prophets. This comes from Hadith. As far as I am aware, it is not obligatory, but it is considered as a good act and will add to hasana (SP?) or good credit. In Islam you must have the belief that Jesus (PBUH) preached, and the deeds as described throughout the OT. It is a summation of all. In Islamic Deen however, just as it is stated in the Bible, we can never earn enough good favors to truly deserve to go to Paradise (Heaven) and as such must depend on the mercy and blessings of Allah to tip the scales in our favor. Much of Hadith is devoted to describing ways and times to multiply your favors with Allah. Intent plays a major factor. So I would say to answer your question, No it is not required to you as a non-Muslim as you cannot be bound to laws you don't yet (InshAllah you will one day) accept. And even I would say If it is required of Muslims, we cannot force each other to do it although informing and attempting to nicely pursuade is a good thing.
Ok now to the big one. No, it does not say many of the things the naysayers say it does. Does it say we should invite others to Islam? Yes. Does it say we should spread the word? Yes. Can I convert anyone? No. Only Allah can open someone's heart to Islam. Also there is nothing I could do to force someone into a belief. Even if I stuck a gun to your head 3/4 trigger pull, you might say you believe, but there is no truth to it. Can any Muslim following Islam kill someone for not being Muslim? No. There are 3 reasons Allah gave that would allow killing someone. In preservation of life (ie defense), if the person commits Murder, or the person is spreading corruption in the land. The last one is the one most terroristic organizations use to justify their attacks. This is meant more for people who know Islam, and go about trying to force people into bad acts (sins) such as 2 people fornicating in the street with the intent to make people watch/ join to pull them out of their religious goodness. Of the 3 allowed times, only 1 is obligatory and the others are options as they could be forgiven or given a softer punishment (such as jail, lashes, etc). Defense is obligatory. You must attempt to protect yourself, your family, your friends, your country (loosely say your people), and finally Islam itself. If people were attacking the Religion (I could only assume this means printing false Qurans/ and killing all Muslims is a goal) it is obligatory to fight them, but up until this point noone has declared war on Muslims so we don't have to worry about that. It should also be noted that the obligation for defense (regardless of who you are defending) is only obligatory that you try. If someone dies while you are trying to save them, you have already earned the favor, and there would be no sin.
This got long faster than I thought, but I hope it helps. Feel free to ask any questions on Islam. I promise I will do my best to answer.
