[Job Ter burg]

You can always check qualified systems here:
https://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/compatibility/en422411
https://avid.force.com/pkb/servlet/fileField?retURL=%2Fpkb%2Farticles%2Fen_US%2Fcompatibility%2Fen422411&entityId=ka131000000aBz6AAE&field=Attachment_1__Body__s

Short answer: yes, with 8.4.3 and up, 3.3GHz or higher i7/Xeon E3

Haven’t used it myself, though.

[Job Ter burg]

Yes, it is usually to comply to CALM ATSC A/85 or EBU R128. But there are plugins meant to achieve that inside MC.

[Job Ter burg]

I don’t think there’s much difference, since this is just a measurement. I like Grimm Audio’s LevelNorm. Works in MC, simple, effective, not expensive. It’s meant to normalize any mix to the standard you require. So mix by ears, mixdown, add the plugin to normalize.
I like all Nugen plugins, so check out their LM Correct (more elaborate, higher price).
But there are many, many more options out there these days.
I seriously disagree you need PT for this.

[Job Ter burg]

After AMA-linking to the clip, open the Source Setting, go to FrameFlex, and choose “Letterbox/Pillarbox”. This should prevent any transformations to fit the project’s raster format.

[Job Ter burg]

Or select multiple clips in the bin and choose: Clip->Apply Gain, enter a value.

[Job Ter burg]

The downside being it is not part of your mix. Might be difficult when the idents are mixed insanely loud (they usually are) and also if your mix needs to be compliant with loudness standards like A/85 or R128.

[Job Ter burg]

Discard one of the two channels you received. These tracks are probably cancelling each other out (phase inversion or phase shift).

[Job Ter burg]

I would guess that the culprit is that these files are being linked via Quicktime. Which is a dog.

[Job Ter burg]

Same As Source, then a third party encoder. I like Squeeze, but Adobe Media Encoder and Compressor should have great presets as well. Never do H264 (or any custom codec) straight from MC, since it will use old slow 32bit Quicktime to do the conversion, often with gamma-du-jour. Way more control over this when using apps like Squeeze.

[Job Ter burg]

Well, my experience with final cut slow has been quite different. But I guess YYMV. That said, FCP 7 is not from last century, but from 2009.

MC handles long sequences but the more tracks and effects in the sequence, the slower normal tweaks become. Again, when doing the tweaks, you can activate the playlength command so you can work. When you need to play back a long section, turn it off. One click.

Not trying to defend the way this works, but yes, most longform is done on MC and to the best of my knowledge most editors doing longform use this feature to make the software more responsive when trimming and tweaking.

Have you tried it, and does it help?