What i miss in the discussion is that using latex you concentrate on the content and not on the formatting. If you are looking for good layex editors there is one that outshines them all : emacs.

Yes, that's the theory, but in practice I find that I spend much more time futzing with the formatting in LaTeX than in Word, especially in two-column mode with figures. The article and various comments here suggest I'm not alone in this...

I'd love to have a system that actually delivers on the latex philosophy of separating content from formatting.

I find in Word I don't try too hard on formatting, especially in 2 column situations, because it is just going to look ugly no matter what I do. Using latex, in contrast, I really focus on aesthetics, which means some more time spent for decent results.