Let's face it, browsers are very complex pieces of software, they have to implement numerous protocols, chase a moving target, attempt to deal sensibly with non-compliant input and provide a decent user experience. And the big names all do a pretty decent job for most people. None of them are perfect yet, though, and given the constantly changing nature of the game, its hard to forsee a time when they could become perfect. I feel quite a lot for the developers of browser software (being a developer myself), an audience of millions, many of whom have a deep-seated dislike of your product. If you met a developer of [the browser you like least] would you rant and rave at him, or just have a friendly chat? :-)

Dude, I'm 37 and still very happily programming away. I know I need to always have one eye on my resume. I've probably peaked in terms of income unless I move up the food chain -- more money would be nice but isn't necessary (I earn more than both my very happy parents ever did, added together). I have a friend my age, we started out programming, he went management, I stayed a techie. He laments his brain has wasted away and wishes he was still programming. To balance it out he earns 3 times what I do, and while he could demote himself but doesn't. Also, you've been working for what, 20 years, give or take. Maybe it's time for a change.

It doesn't matter what OS you're using if you don't have some process in place to keep yourself up-to-date with security updates. Both Linux and Windows will have more security bugs exposed in the future. A good thing about Windows is it does auto-update by default; I don't know if the various linux distributions have a similar sort of system, if they do, good.

The Office 12 blog http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/default.aspx is a good place to read the reasoning behind some of the design decisions. Whether you agree or not with the changes, their motivation seems to be sound: improve the user experience.

Making features easier to find/discover is [apparently] one of the biggest benefits. Word has a zillion features, and most people use about 10.

Anyway, I'd recommend the blog as an interesting read for those people interested in user interface design for a product with hunderds of millions of users.