Several problems with editor

I am a newbie with WordPress. I installed version 2.9.2. a couple of days ago, and I am already frustrated. It is the editor I am having problems with:

1. When I edit, insert, or delete something in the editor, the editor often jumps back up and shows the beginning of my text (as if I had pressed Page Up). The cursor, however, remains in the original position. I have then to scroll down again to find the piece of text I was trying to edit.
2. When I want to insert an image in the visual mode (full screen), it is always inserted at the beginning of my text even though I had positioned my cursor somewhere else, for example at the end of my text. This only seems to happen in full screen mode.
3. When I use the editor (i.e., edit text, insert images, delete images), the editor sometimes adds extra lines between all my paragraphs of my text.
4. When I use the spell checker, spaces between many words disappear.

What could be causing this behavior? Has something gone wrong with the installation of WordPress on my webserver? Would an older version of WordPress be more stable?

I use Windows XP and IE 8. I have tested the Compatibility Mode in IE but it does not seem to affect the WP editor’s behavior. I am not a coder, so I would not want to go in and, for example, change any autosave functions in a Javascript file. I need to be able to work with WordPress, which is difficult when spaces miraculously are removed or inserted or other inexplicable things happen.

Any help is very much appreciated.