1. You should be learning through prontoedit on your 990 - only do it directly if you have a problem. I have never had a problem learning codes in the 9600.

2. The screen is the same size as the 990 - it just has a higher resolution. Because of the higher resolution you can make smaller buttons that are still clear to read. But in general, you would not make the buttons much smaller. It is not a matter of accuracy. If your finger is bigger than the button and your buttons are close together. you could hit the wrong button. However, it does come with a stylus which you could use to press tiny, rarely used buttons.

3. I don't use animations, so I can't really answer that question, other than saying it does appear fast. And using Prontoscript would probably be faster. Note that you cannot test ProntoScript in the simulator.

Also, the WiFi is extremely reliable. Much better than RF in the old models.