“I have to stare at the page for 5 minutes and scan each link to remember which item will take me to the options I need. Not only that, but I frequently have to click on an item to remember ‘nope - that’s not the one’.”

That is so true. However I’m still more inclined to follow the Google simplicity way of doing things. I never have a problem finding or using the more complex functionality they provide … unlike MSDN and such like that try to drown you in options, trees and information.

Don’t get me wrong, you sometimes need that. But back to SharePoint, I think it’s main problem is just poor organisation of those links and tabs. Or perhaps poor organisation from the point of view of a user/administrator/developer in the real world and not the Microsoft world. I’m sure it makes sense to the experts in Microsoft, but I would gladly offer some suggestions as to how they could reduce the need for searching around those two tabs of overwhelming links (to magical places).