Vector Mask - Arrgh! (Bug or Feature?)

Question

I'm frustrated by some behaviors of Vector Masks. I'm asking the forum about this because I'm curious how many others have experienced these issues
• When I'm working on a layer that has a VM, (i.e. when that layer is active), it is IMPOSSIBLE to load any other path as a selection.
For example: I've made a layer that has both a Layer Mask and a VM. I need to load some other paths as selections in order to further modify the Layer Mask. With the LM active, I Cmnd Click on another path in the Path Palette, but it is the VM of that layer that gets loaded as a selection. The VM seems to override all other paths. The only work around is to click to another layer, load a path as a selection, and then click back to the LM of the layer with the VM.
• If I click on a layer with a Vector Mask the Vector Mask then becomes active (lines around it). This occurs even when clicking the layer, NOT the Layer Mask or the Vector Mask (VM). Even with the VM inactive, mousing over it in the layer palette makes the VM path appear, briefly. Having the path pop into visibility is distracting when I'm trying to look at something else.
Everyone in our studio experiences this behavior.
What makes VM paths so dominant? Is there a pref somewhere that controls this? Is this an Open GL glitch? Is this a feature that I am using incorrectly? Or is this a documented bug?
(Because someone will ask, "Why have both layer mask and vector mask on one layer?"
I have both LM and VM because it gives me flexibility in editing, for instance I can have the LM hard edged, and the VM feather 10 pxl so it is easy to create a mask effect that has different qualities of edge blur within it).
Thanks in advance for anyone's input.
Craig
Photoshop CS4 Extended (vers. 11)
OS X 10.5.5
2x2.66 Dual Cor Intel Xeon
8GB memory

Answer 1

Ginger,
Using paths is an extremely powerful function in Photoshop and Illustrator. If you intend to do high-end work in either program learning the path tool is fundamental. It gives you the ability to create very smooth and graceful shapes. Often I find that I can create a path  on an area of a photo that is much cleaner than the shape captured in the photograph of a product. Manufacturing runs, especially preliminary runs, have defects in the mold/process that when photographed at high resolution appear objectionable. Using the Pen Tool I will draw a better shape, the shape intended by the product designer, and use that mask to clean up manufacturing errors. Since these images are used in high-end display images, the cleaned-up image is acceptable to the client whent the straight photo would not be.
The Lasso tool is defintitely a "go to" option, but there is no substitute for the Pen Tool in making perfect selections. They can be converted into layer masks. They can have feathering applied. I often have layers with BOTH Layer Masks and Vector Masks because of the variable feathering that gives me. I can only suggest that the Pen Tool is a must-have in any Photoshop artist's tool-kit.
Craig