SureAI

For example, when you ride the boat from the mine to the abby, there is a long set of spoken dialog by the guy on the boat with you.

I have no idea what he said, or if its important.

This comes up often when people are speaking, but not in subtitled conversion.

Any plans to address this?

You have to activate both "Dialogue Subtitles" and "General Subtitles" in the option menu. What Porim said during the boat ride is not essential for the story.

Thanks! I must have missed that option.

Its been a long time since I played oblivion, is there a way to switch spells quickly or weapons quickly? or do you have to open up the equipment window and just equip another weapon?

Sure, you have 8 hotkeys 1-8 and you can pick anything to go in there. If you want a weapon, hold down the number 1 and click on the desired weapon, 2 could be a bow, 3 a healing spell, 4 an attack spell, etc.