1) Right click on the task bar (That's what it's called) and a menu will pop up. Select toolbars, and then check "Quick Launch".

2) I'm not sure if there is normally an option for adjusting this, but I changed mine using TweakUI. This is of course one of the PowerToys. If you haven't used this tool, I highly reccommend it.

3) It should be right there, in that frame on the left hand side of Explorer. The section you are looking for is called "Details", and it's the one on the bottom. You may just need to click on the little double arrow in the corner, in order to open that section. It looks like this >>, only it points up or down, instead of left or right.

BTW - From the sounds of it, you are turning off most of the things that really make XP any different than 2000, so no, you probably won't see much difference.

Oh yeah, make sure you check out "Clear Type". That is much improved over "Smooth edges of screen fonts".

Hope this helps!