Pages5.1+Mavericks = issues with margins, attaching, transport, pictures, printing, more.

Question

Got Mac Mini with Mountain Lion  ; the GOALS for this computer:
Writing for publication, filling out forms, sending data, photo editing and adjustments, artwork, tasks, email, online consulting, volunteer advocacy, research, etc.
Was beginning to get the hang of things, with some difficulties;but was not finding what I needed.
Unknowingly took bad advice: updated to Mavericks.
Everything FUBAR'd. 
Straightened some things out; at least can access email, get online, do a few things--still can't do meaningful work on it.
Mini = very expensive Entertainment Box; NOT my priority.
I Thought: download programs that can do work.
Got Pages 5.1.  It fails to work right:
Margins refuse to adjust. 
Pictures pasted into Pages document, very hard to adjust on page or get type to wrap around picture, adjust sizing, etc.--time wasting, unable to adjust as wanted on pages--settled for what it would do at all. 
Page Setup is hardly relevant to actually setting up a Page.
Won't attach to Email.
Won't allow reading it anywhere but on the computer it was made.
Won't allow saving Pages nor Text documents using ANY other extensions.
Saving is a contorted mouse-hunt; there's no "save-as". 
For one typed page, a box told me there was HTML in the thing, and that it couldn't deal with it, even though there wasn't.
Pages document Won't save properly to a Pendrive for transport: it reads OK on the MAc, but on the PC, only 1st page visible, the rest unitelligible, pixelated, when moved to a PC. 
I thought to transport the Pages document to the PC to copy/paste it into a Owrd Document--THAT failed, too.
Trying to print this Pages document turned into a nightmare: 1st page almost printed, ensuing pages resembled NOTHING I'd saved; a 10-page Pages document turned into many more pages of garbled mess. 
I haven't had time to try other features; just making a pretty basic Pages document has been a wicked time-waster.
There doesn't seem to be ANY work-around.
I Thought: copy/paste the content of the Pages document, into a Text document: THAT FAILED.
Copy/Pasting one page at a time for this maneuver, also failed: 
Pictures [.jpg] turn fuzzy and HUGE, and refuse adjustment in any way I can find. 
Pictures refuse to adjust Easily, whether Pages or Text--couldn't make pictures in Text adjust at all.
Very UNimpressed with the picture editing on this Mac, to date.
Having terrible time doing ANYthing to adjust .jpg's in any document--forget putting photos in emails.
"Help" has been fairly useless; tutorials instruct to do things the programs won't do, or has no suggestion. 
Pages is Useless, if it only allows making a basic document that's ONLY visible or minimally usable on the unit it got made on.
Feartures hark back to antique MS Word, like having to go up to Edit in order to copy/paste [as in this message], instead of being able to use Mouse to copy/paste directly in document, for instance. 
This computer refuses to allow printing via ethernet or hardwire; Mini sees there's a printer, but can't print, thinks it's not on, or some unknown blockage.
Uninstalled printer, tried to reinstall, Mini refuses to allow reinstall; can't auto-find printer, refuses manual entry of information.
This Mac nearly choked/crashed after updated to Mavericks, in many ways.
MAYBE all this is really yet more Mavericks issues? ?
I paid dearly to get a computer that SHOULD have been Stably ready to roll; instead, it's caused about 3+ months worth of time-wasting.
This fails as a reliable, stable WORK unit.   
Getting vetted, stable software should be easy, but it isn't. 
ALL the problems APPEAR to be software issues. 
This isn't just a Learning Curve, this is diabolical Sudoku gone horribly wrong!
Microsoft historically, repeatedly, rushed unstable, incomaptible software to users before de-bugging/de-glitching, or issues incomplete licenses to ancillary programs making htem disfunctional:  it's what I've hated MOST about PC's. 
IMHO, the contract that conjoined Mac with Microsoft seems to have caused Macs to take on the worst of PC habits. 
This MacMess is turning my brain to mush!  Where do I send a BILL to Apple for premature onset of Dementia / Stressed-Brain injuries + Time Lost, related to bad computer software?! 
At this rate, I'll never finish a book for publication anywhere, and must fall back on hand-writing forms and reports. 

Answer 1

Thanks Peter--it is what I thought [return to Mountain Lion].
Chi
PS:  Contracts between Microsoft and Apple can be Googled; numerous things come up; could start here: 
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/592FE887-5CA1-4F30-BD62-407362B5 33B9.html
It continued, with variations, later dates.
Using "conjoined" was perhaps, not exactly the correct term.  But that contract changed how Macs operated; dependability has, IMHO [and others], declined, while PC's have gained some bits of dependability.
Macs subsequently started using other processors, instead of Apple hardware--[not knowing how that might change things].
There's been more of Apple rushing software to users prematurely; always a badly played Microsoft trick, for instance. 
It has some hints that MS and Apple are becoming more homogenous; that would be sad. It will take longer than this, to accomplish; but this kind of contracts between industry giants, often portend that sort of merge at later date, done in a step-wise manner.  These kinds of things can take years longer than this; meanwhile, users deal with bad products.