Holy smokes!
Braap thankyou for such a great write up! Ummm.... can't think of any other way to say thankyou for such a lifetime of experience,,,,..... Oh well.
Unick, Braab has given you a ton of insight. Now don't forget one very valuable piece, (I was even suprised, because this has been asked elsewhere), the information you seeked was within the search function.
I know there is a ton on porting and matching in that search button.
Have fun!