I agree with you about the Sky UI, I find it really restrictive. I would love to have simple thing like a single channel programme list when the time slots are listed vertically down the screen.

However, my Mum can use it. This is a minor miracle as she refuses to believe that she can operate anything "technical", yet she managed to get the hang of a Sky digibox without much help from me.

The Sky+ remote is also the most intuitive I have ever used. I can always find any button without looking at the remote. I don't know why it is so good, it just is (I think it might be to do with the combination of different shapes and sizes of the buttons).