Re Matlab/ Octave:

I am an R to Octave convert. R has some great stuff, especially multi-type tables and a decent OO system for packaging complex analyses, but .... Octave rocks R when you have to come up with complex matrix oriented algorithms -- much, much more straightforward.

Also -- cell arrays are funky and necessary for string manipulation. I suggest not dwelling on their weirdness -- you may grow to like them.