differences between 8.5 and X3 I need help with (please!)

I've been saving these up in an effort to not completely spam the forum.  Let me know if there are settings I can tweak or if I just have to "suck it up" and adapt.
 
#1.  Playback now-time scrolling is jerky in track view.  Is this a video issue?  It doesn't look real smooth and tends to get "stuck" briefly and jump forward at times.  This is not the PAUSE button it's just not as smooth as it was in 8.5 (on a different computer with a different video card).
 
#2.  When I'm working with video and have the video view selected, I inset a marker and the focus goes back to track view.  I don't want to have to click back over to the video.  I like to use <-- and --> to shuffle the video forward and back and insert markers as needed.  At least that's how I did it in 8.5.  Having carpal tunnel and repetitive stress injury in both hands, the keyboard is very important to me I don't like to have to touch the mouse.
 
[SOLVED] #3.  When I export audio there used to be a status bar on the bottom of the screen so I could monitor the progress.  Is there a way to get this back?  This is especially handy exporting a 5+ minute chunk of audio.  Yes it only takes 5-10 seconds, but every time I see nothing happening except the blue spinning wheel I instinctually panic.
 
[SOLVED] #4a.  I don't mind this new "smart" tool that lets you move and select and whatnot... but when I lasso PART of a clip I want it to select the ENTIRE clip, is there a way to do this? I want my lasso back!
 
#4b.  Not quite as important but I wish the window would remember my preference of tool. For example I will always want the "smart" tool in the track view but when I go to the piano roll I will always want the "select" tool. I have them set to key bindings but still... 8.5 kept the tool choices separate.
 
[SOLVED] #5.  In 8.5 I had my MSR buttons to the right of the volume/pan which I liked. In bike terms we'd say this was an aftermarket modification but I don't remember how I did it. Is there a 3rd-party patch or utility for this in X3?
 
#6.  Can you seriously not select a track by clicking on the NAME of the track? Just seems so counterintuitive to me. Guess I will get used to it eventually. Why would they change this?
 
[SOLVED] #7.  Scrolling in piano view... I like to edit in real time, watch a performance go by and delete any small mistakes as they scroll by. I click on a midi clip, it opens the piano roll, the piano roll is scrolling properly but as soon as I delete a note it stops scrolling and "sticks" where my edit was... is there a setting for this?
 
[SOLVED] #8.  When I split a clip like this:

I expect this to happen:

Not this:

Is there a way to change this?
 
Thank you in advance for any help it is truly appreciated.
　
 

Brilliant!!  Thanks!  MSR buttons definitely involved editing some sort of INS or INI file I just don't remember where.  I will try google more...

5 - does alt-drag on the widgets not move them still? I'm pretty sure I've rearranged my track view widgets in X3!

Yes!  And that is much easier than the way I did it last time...

Not an immediate answer, but I just thought I would suggest perusing the Groove 3 (and other) tutorials to keep up to speed on ever-changing Sonar.
 
As I progressed up the ladder of Sonar versions I found changes were just too much for me figure out each time I ran into one, so I broke down and got into the Groove 3 Sonar videos.  I actually learned about the many choke points I had just been blundering through.  I also learned better ways of doing things I thought I had already mastered.

brundlefly
Personally, I would prefer seeing a pile of individual posts vs. a "laundry list"; it makes it easier to give and track the responses to specific issues.

I agree.

Just to say it again, you guys have been fantastic.
 
Sorry I didn't make 9 different threads but I would find that very annoying if I was reading the forum.
 
#3, #4a, #5, #7, #8 solved.
#4b, #6, #9 I just have to suck it up and deal with it.
 
That only leaves #1 and #2!  I will keep experimenting but will make separate thread(s) with more info if I can't figure anything out.

1. It's not a pause issue.  The "un-paused" version is jerky for me.
2. That's what I do!  From the focus being on the video, hit M and insert a marker, now the focus is on the track view and I can no longer shuffle the video until I click on the video.  In 8.5 focus stayed on the video window after inserting a marker...

Can you really select the track by clicking the track name in 8.5, not only get it in focus? I've always thought the only way to select a track is clicking the track number, as clicking the track area just selects the clips.
I've ever only clicked on the track name to re-name the track, and never noticed anything getting selected.