Regarding the dates...
It seems that something is getting in first and processing my dates.
This is not Autoformat as you type (tried turning off the date option) and this is not Smart Tags (turned off). There are no date-related macros.

It does the following:-
(Note today is the 16th March 2011, and I am in the UK.)
I type "2011", it prompts for "2011-03-16".
I type "16 Mar" it prompts for "16 Mar. 11".
I type "16/03" it prompts for "16/03/11".
If I hit enter, I get the prompted replacement, space and there is no replacement.
This always involves today's date: no other date.
What is it that is doing this?