You said above that you are not a graphical designer. Hello, I am a Web Designer, WP Developer, and I use a Dell Venue Pro everyday as my personal phone.
1: Metro UI uses a grid to align everything, the size of the arrow you hate so much is exactly 1/3 that of the tiles. The white space on the right is 1/2 that of the tiles, this creates a sort of nuance to it that your eyes can’t see. The IE tile is fine with the large contact point, you are so much more accurate when tapping.
2: That is not a book mark, that’s pinned to the start menu. It’s meant to take so much. I have The Verge pinned on my lower right side, works like a charm.
3: This tiny thing makes a freaking huge difference that you don’t see. The space created by the arrow is a zone that does not launch apps. It prevents you from tapping on some tile. This is one of the most fantastic things in everyday use. I don’t even pin the Facebook app, it’s FASTER to get it from the app menu. I’m not kidding!
4: No. The Windows Phone interface is intended to be glanceable. Controls are in the app. It would be pointless to put controls on them. What denotes going in the app vs the second unread app?
5: Big fat NO… Personally the app drawer is 1000X better than android’s. and the lack of sort forces you to learn order.
