Thanks, I will add that to my wishlist.
Is M43 (MFT, M4/3, whatever it's called) a reasonable platform for starting out? I like that it can take my old Canon and Pentax manual focus lenses with an adapter, so I don't need to buy any long lenses right away. Will probably just get a 14-40something zoom and a 17mm or 20mm prime lens at first.
Is it a good format, yes, I personally shoot it and enjoy it.
4/3 (including M4/3) is about a 2x crop on your legacy lenses, so don't expect them to behave exactly the same. APS-C is about 1.5x crop, and Fuji and Nex series cameras will also use your lenses with the right adapters. I would choose from those three systems.
As far as lenses go, it can be hit or miss, as with any system. The 14-42mm Oly kit lens is adequate, but not great. The 12-50mm is less than stellar. I don't have experience with other kit lenses. However, quite a few of the primes are excellent performers. So there is plenty of good glass to be had in system.
If you are shooting legacy glass, I would highly, highly recommend focus peaking as a feature to look for. The E-M5 lacks this feature, but there is a "hack" involving the art filters that actually works quite well and has been very successfully for me personally.