Hello,
For part 1, see [1].
In his reply to User experience feedback [2], Howief says: "the language links were used relatively infrequently based on tracking data".
Is there any data about their usage since the switch to Vector?
[1] http://www.mail-archive.com/wikipedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/msg00461.html [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:User_experience_feedback