My experience has been the opposite. It is much better for me to have a separate modifier key (Command) for separate things. Want to make a new terminal window? It's Command+N, not Alt+F2. Paste? Command+V, not Shift+Ins. Copy? Command+C. New tab? Command+T. None of those things are possible with Windows shortcuts. If I didn't need a shell all the time it would probably be more uniform, of course. The only really good thing about the keyboard shortcuts in Windows is the Alt+<underlined character> which I have always hoped would be part of OS X someday. (Is that what you're referring to when you say "2 or 3 basic principles?)

I definitely agree with you that Apple prefers form over function, but I don't think keyboard shortcuts are the best example of that. I could personally never get away from a Unix-like operating system, which is why Linux is really best for my needs.