[jlgreco]

I agree on most points, but there is no way that wacking Ctrl-W +/-/>/< is more pleasant than just moving either your index finger or your thumb a half an inch to use a trackpoint or trackpad and instantly get the window proportions you want.

You can of course make nicer mappings, but even then it isn't as nice.

[johncoltrane]

All these commands take a count:

    10<C-w>

But I tend to keep windows at equal width anyway.

[jlgreco]

I don't count columns, I resize to taste.

I also resize often, particularly when using vimdiff, because I often use smaller screens (either because I am watching other things in tmux panes at the same time, or because I am working on my eeepc).