Forgive the preaching about the Ram disk.
Other OSes have tried to implement a Ram disk (Apple II, Mac, etc) or 3rd parties have tried to add them into existing OSes. I'm aware of none that have the elegance (over-used word) and function of the Amiga's auto-sizing design. It's invaluable to try new software from the Ram disk before writing it to some system drive. Have you ever decided you didn't like some trial software on a Mac or Windows machine and then tried to remove it?
Equally cool is the RAD: drive (if you haven't heard). If you have extra ram but no HD, you can move the OS there. Rad: is lightning fast and will survive a warm reset. Incredible!
Have you tried Magic Workbench and some of the other pre-OS3.5 icon packages on Aminet? Mr.500 has posted some excellent Workbench screenshots (icons, backdrops, etc) on this website executed in only 8 or 16 colors on original ECS hardware. Take a look!