App Exposé and limited gesture options - solutions please...

I have upgraded to Lion on my personal Mac, however...

I rely on easy access (1) to a desktop's open files regardless of where they are (2) or which application I am using to manipulate them (3).

(1) Lion forces you to use a (more awkward) pinch instead of a swipe for some of its features (eg. Show Desktop)

(2) Lion requires you to know whether a file is hidden or minimized before you can use the right gesture, and

(3) if the file is minimised Lion requires you to:

(a) select the relevant application,

(b) launch App Exposé and

(c) search for your file amongst other files that are not even open.

Thankfully I haven't upgraded my work Mac to Lion and will be happy to stay with Snow Leopard. And, for the first time I would be hesitant about recommending a Mac (with Lion) to friends.

Does anyone have any solutions to this issue?

(...aside from posting feedback to apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html)