Please set me straight on user talk/discussion pages

Hi folks,
I have to confess that the user talk/discussion pages confuse me.  In
other wiki places, on a content or user page one hits the discussion
tab and edits away; you can edit just as on a typical page and it
seems to work reasonably well.

In wikieducator you are instead invited to start a new thread; threads
are archived at some point; and you are invited to summarize
discussions.

Personally I like the simplicity of the edit tab.  Perhaps I'm not
thinking deeply enough, but few of my discussions will warrant a
summary.  Is there a way to turn off the more feature-laden way of
discussing on specific pages?  Do others find advantages that I'm
missing?

Also; the 'new messages' feature.  Frequently I log on and it's there;
yet I don't seem to have new messages (wow, I seem to be in a whingie
mood today).

Perhaps this has all been discussed, done, and dusted in previous
posts?

Cheers,

In search of simplicity,

Declan