[Evolution] Suggestions on how to work with Evolution UI effectively?

[Evolution List <carlos gonzalez shaw ca>]

I am starting to get really, really frustrated with the user interface
in Evolution and was wondering if you all could share ways in which you
work with it that I could perhaps imitate and use to avoid the
frustrations I am experiencing.  

Specifically when I switch over to Evolution the focus may be on the
folders pane.  I hit "." to supposedly go to the first unread message
within the folder but this doesn't seem to work consistently.  Sometimes
it doesn't move the scroll bar in the message pane such that I have to
manually move it.  But then I am not sure if the new message I was
supposed to read has already been tagged as read such that I might miss
it.  

The UI is really, really quirky for me to use.  Maybe it's just the way
I am using it or maybe it is the way the UI is but if anyone would
kindly walk me through a way that works well for them, I would
appreciate it.  The UI quirks are going to be a killer for me continuing
to use Evolution if I can't find a way to work with it or change the UI
myself to something more intuitive that it seems to be at present.  

I don't like using my mouse for everything and would prefer to use the
keyboard as much as possible.  

Assuming Evolution starts focused on the folder pane how do you all get
to the first unread message consistently such that it is highlighted in
the message pane and the scroll bar moves down to it.  

The Next button does not appear to work consistently either.  

Thanks.  

Carlos