No matter what color you select, the forecolor will always default to one of the original 16 in the palette. This is a know limitation of Windows and is not caused by Access. For the other button, use GotoControl to go to the LAST control on your form. As you tab through the controls and reach the last editable control, pressing Tab again enters the new, transparent button. Since its OnEnter event triggers a macro that sends you back to the first editable control, it has the effect of keeping you on the same record.
Extra fields can decrease combo or list box performance.
Combo boxes try to match whatever is entered in them, so if there is no default value for the combo box, the combo box tries to match a null value when it is first opened. What I generally do is to place a text box on top of the combo box so that only the drop down button is visible. True 'Initialize to capitalize first letter. How do I make a combo box drop down as soon as the user puts the cursor in there. Access 97 Combo Boxes have a .Dropdown method.