I've emailed John before to ask him about language issues on OS X – I think this was back around the time that Apple decided they weren't going to roll their own Java runtime anymore. He responded back promptly and pointed me toward some reading material he thought was insightful.
Not only are his reviews and articles awesome, he seems like a really decent, chill guy.
Totally agree with your last sentence. This is an EPIC review, and drove me to clear some diskspace and buy and install Lion.
I like it so far, some nice touches, but there really are some serious usability issues, including discoverability, with Mission Control. Very unlike Apple, at least for the last few releases of OS X.
(Previously, page 18 stated that "The old lock screen didn't allow account switching." Turns out it has, since at least Panther back in 2004.)