The trick with iMovie 07 and upwards is to understand that it is using a *completely different* paradigm for editing video and has *nothing at all* to do with the previous versions of iMovie. Once you "get" that and approach it fresh it turns out to be far *simpler* than the old iMovie to do basic editing, in fact -- but its not a faux-NLE like the old iMovie was.
I too had a *terrible* time when iMovie 07 first came out; I had gotten quite good at iMovie HD and so the new one was a huge WHAT?! moment. I later saw a video demo by the guy who wrote iMovie 07 and had my "aha" moment and since then its been pretty great. It's a trick, dropping what one is used to/has learned about A and approaching B with a fresh eye, no doubt about it.
I'm more concerned about your attitude towards AppleWorks, as I know a number of people (including professors that should really know better) who have *lost valuable work* because they waited far too long to convert their work and now they're up the creek with colleagues who have long since moved on and have no machines available that can read the older files. Please don't let this happen to you. You certainly don't have to use Word but the Word *format* is a standard you should convert your work to before it is too late.
Like with iMovie, it can sometimes be a pain to learn a new program when the old one has been discontinued (AppleWorks was left for dead more than a decade ago, you know) or sometimes it can be a true pleasure to break out of a program you knew well but had its issues and discover something WOW way better that you had no idea about because you had the blinders on. Believe me I've been there as well. Pages (see iMovie re attitude adjustment) is *far* more powerful yet easier to use than AppleWorks particularly for layout (but also for WP) and isn't Word. Nor is Bean, my WP of choice (much more basic but free and simple) or TextEdit for that matter. Yet all three (and most other options) read Word-format files -- but don't (with the exception of Pages) read AW files.
As for your premise that Apple should support older programs indefinitely -- I have to say you might be fairly new to the concept of capitalism
but seriously Apple sincerely believes these programs to be far superior and they are (when looked at more objectively) generally right, particularly when one considers the needs of the broader audience rather than one individual.
Lastly, while I couldn't be sure that "no one" from Apple would read your post, I can say that Mac-Forums is not an official channel for Apple in any way so no, nobody from Apple will be reading this ... and to be frank even if it somehow found its way to Tim Cook's desk it wouldn't matter. Apple is about looking forward, not back -- and definitely not about staying still.