Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gotcha. In general I detest html email so your #4 problem isn't something I've faced. My answer of dragging and dropping isn't actually something I do very much either. I normally just copy and paste the link into the email and don't format it in anyway. I'm totally with you on subject editing and accessing email addresses from the header. Adding clicks purely to minimize the design seems like a poor move to me too.
Sorry I meant #3. Either way, I like to format my links. If there's a shortcut to pop out the message to compose mode, I'd totally learn that. I wonder what the gmail team is thinking with this new UI...
Alas, you'd then still need to click the formatting and header to make the changes you're talking about.