New Machine - Finder Problems

Finder being similar in goal to Windows Explorer I was expecting some really easy ways to get things done. Apparently, Apple screwed up the user interface here as well.

Baring in mind that I may know nothing but that is what comments are all about.

So, lets consider some simple tasks that I would like to do:

• Navigate a directory structure.
  
  In "List" mode things work as expected but switch to "Cover Flow" and the interface changes. The UI cardinal rule that is broken by the Mac so often.
  
  In "Cover Flow" mode when a folder is selected I have press command-right arrow to navigate. What's with the two keys. The right arrow moves me to the next sibling which is stupid because I have a perfectly good down arrow if I wanted to do that.
  


• Open With
  
  I am playing with some images and want to learn more about iPhoto's features. The default action for a jpg file is preview. Perhaps useful for some things but I want to open it in iPhoto, the big iLife component extolled in the ad's, you would think the integration is great wouldn't you? So, ok not the default but right click on the file and select "Open With", search the list of apps, search again in astonishment. No iPhoto. I see Gimp, which I installed for better photo editing because we know iPhoto sucks for at photo editing, but not the grand app Apple touts so staunchly.
  
  Ok, no problem I am used to the whole "Open With" concept. I select "Other" to find the iPhoto application. The application selection dialog opens and I find the app in question. I see an "Always Open With" check box but I don't want that. I assume that it will be as good as windows and remember that I selected this app this time to will add it to the list ready for next time.
  
  The other option on this dialog is the "Enable: Recommended Applications" which can be switched to "All Applications" if I want to. This simplifies my selection of iPhoto because the down arrow jumps between "Recommended Application" saving some time.
  
  When I next go into "Open With" to open the next photo I find that iPhoto is not available. The Mac had forgotten that I selected this app. I am going to have to re-select "Other", arrow down to the application and press "Open".
  
  So, if Mac is maintaining a list of "Recommended Applications" and another list of "Open With" applications, how does one move one to the other list?
  
  Oh, yes, the burnt crust on this is that iPhoto doesn't open the photo in question but jumps to a list of all photo's available on the USB memory card. At this point I am not sure I would expect anything else. Why not force me to click some more and navigate some more, after all, Mac is so pretty :-P