Or you could follow development as it happens and keep informed (it doesn’t take a lot of time, really). Or you could use what you know and take your time learning the rest.
I don’t see the big deal. I find it quite manageable.
Are you kidding, I still have to learn about topology.
Blender is becoming more complex in order to drive off the weak and the puny. First, we tried making a highly functional but non-traditional ( read non-MSWord ) interface to thin the herd, but that was not enough. All the new features are designed to drive pitiful users towards Tuxpaint.
That and the fact that state of the art features like softbodies and fluid simulation are both cool and useful.