The people at ArsTechnica seem to me to be both unusually clueful and good at explaining things . I think they should get some sort of prize. The more I hear about the Mac OS X Dock the more I worry. LiteSwitch combined with the old, free Tilery 3.1 both make me a very happy Mac user who can track and switch between open applications easily. It sounds like I won't be able to use either and won't get a replacement that's anywhere near as easy and customizable.
Nothing is wasted.
You are older, and you have made decisions, and you are not the fox you were yesterday. Take what you have learned, and move on.