Thanks for the compliment on the avatar, huge Doctor Who fan!!!
Good catch in a task manager, another must have, Samsung did include one on the Omnia, so your covered if you like it!!
I didn't have the problems with Imache you did, maybe something happened in the install or another app is interfering with it. If your looking to get rid of the scroll bars and have icon shortcuts, take a look at Mobile Shell 3!!!
Pretty cool customization on it's own, you can select your own background on one screen (actually 3 screens in one) and customize the layout with widgets!!!! There is a thread for it in the software forum:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=56319
Here is an example of what it can look like: