Ahh yep, try to use edit poly instead of edit mesh whenever possible. Edit mesh is a hold over for legacy code and the default for many modifiers and functions. 1) There are a few ways to get rid of edges: - Click on an edge and hit ring, hit collapse. Works great for getting rid of rings. But destroys the edges. If you…
maybe you work in editable mesh mode. you have to have an editable poly or edit poly modifier applied. for edit mesh those things don't work... and by the way: max has a good help. i think lots can be answered there...