I've got a 1080p monitor and created a custom layout "big perp 4-way" so that there's a big perspective panel on the left and three panels on top of each other to the right for top/front/side views, all of equal sizes. So far so good.

First question... this may be a bugette... Every time I pop open the Channel box, the three orthographic views change size. The height of each gets mangled up so the boxes aren't equal heights anymore. How can I stop this happening?

Second Question.. How can I make this layout the default when opening up Maya? Even better, can I change the default "4-pane arrangement" so that there a big perspective view on the left and the three orths above each other on the right?

Lastly, if I can't change the default "4-pane arrangement", is there a way of permanently adding my customised 'big persp 4-way" to the "Preset Window Layout" toolbox on the left?