yeesh - those non-stick pans are nasty. Even if you don't overheat them (easy to do) so that they give off fumes, the coating tends to flake off after a few years so you wind up eating it. Plus they're usually rather thin aluminum pans.

I don't have an enameled cast-iron myself; too expensive. I have some regular cast iron; the elaborate mythology about their seasoning and upkeep is mostly nonsense ("this pan has been in my family for 3 generations, never been washed, and it's just now getting good), although the intial seasoning process is kind of nasty and you have to do it in the summer when you can keep the windows open. My other favorite pots are the fire-brick pots known in Japanese as "donabe" and in Korean as something I can't pronounce (google for "Korean clay pot") - these are fairly cheap and incredibly versatile, since they can go on the stove or in the oven, you can serve from them, or eat from them (the smaller sizes, unless you serve larger-size people), and then stick the leftovers in the refrigerator. They're excellent for Western caseroles and so on. They require no special seasoning or care except if you drop them they will break. But they're not that expensive to replace. Sorry for long off-topic post.

On windows - the old-fashioned kind of sliding up-and-down windows (don't know what they're called) used a counterweight hidden in the frame (easily accessible for repairs by prying up the moulding). Modern windows use a spring which is mechanically much more troublesome (a little easier to get at, but you need a special tool to adjust it, and it doesn't always work very well). I don't understand the advantage of the spring (marginally easier to install, maybe?)