You know what Aviv, I had some of the same questions before I purchased. Being an avid user of Coppermine, 4Images and gallery2 software, there is no comparison in support and in speed of the program. One of the main reason I bought it is due to the ease of its use, for admin functions and users. The other software was too hard to manage, and slow..
I have had several discussions on certain tweaks on my site, as with many other users here, and Either Michael or Chuck have been too eager to help you tweak until your heart desires, with almost instant fixes as I am typing this.
The layout might be old fashioned, but hey, since you run a
VB forum, you can use its layout instead with integration. I wouldn't settle for anything else in product and more important, instant support...