Cancel button useless

Yeah, I'd have to agree on this one. For quite a few operations, the cancel button yields no response whatsoever. Escape almost never responds either.

Just for kicks, choose the smudge tool when you really wanted the brush, crank up the size, and paint for five seconds. Now you're in trouble! You can't cancel, you can't escape. It won't finish for at least ten minutes and you're on a deadline. What to do?

They can definitely be slow to respond, and I can't tell you how to make that any different.  I think they can also be a good way to make Photoshop craash and burn, so I tend to let the operation finish and undo.  I'd be interested in other peoples thoughts on this.