Would you like one of us to come over, bring some beer, install & configure it, teach you the ins and outs and provide free tech support for a year too?
Its always a good thing to have an image before doing anything drastic with your system. Corruption acts quickly and is sometimes irreperable once the damage is done.
The rest of your questions have debatable answers that are more of a matter of personal preference. If you don't get any specific answers from those who have used it, the internet will have a vast amount of data to sift through from others who have used it and have specific recommendations related to your specific questions.