1. I guess I should rephrase it in the guide. What I meant was to complete the install, setting keyboard language, setting up username ...etc
2. Yes, I'm not able to get brightness working fully. Probably need to repatch DSDT with the right bar0/bar1 address (WIP)
3. iMessage - make sure you have FileNVRAM.dylib in /Extra/modules. Generate a unique smbios serial...see my signature below under iMessage with a fix. I read that you might have to enter a credit card number or call Apple as well
4. Keyboard layout - choose what works for you. There's an article here call remapping keyboard, search for it in the forum
5. Before upgrading your OS X, make sure you have the correct version of the kernel you're upgrading to. The haswell processor requires a patched kernel to fix the automatic reboot issue. More details here.
I included the patched kernel so you don't have to patch it yourself, make sure to place it in /Extra before you upgrade, otherwise your system won't be able to boot and goes in rebooting loop.
The default location of the vanilla kernel is on the root, you could patch that yourself you like or copy the patched kernel there but you'll have to change org.chameleon.boot.plist to point it there.