Ian,
I am actually sincerely hoping that your earlier point is correct - namely that the 944 screen is nothing unusual at all! It's a good one, and I am wondering how much of the concern about changing windscreens is justified. While I am nervous about my P&J not being as it should be when the job is done, I am aware that horror stories travel much more quickly and readily than success stories, and realistically many 944's must have their windscreens changed every week without any drama at all.
I know that my S2 had a new windscreen and side window put in shortly before I bought it (I was told so, and found small bits of glass in the car for the first 6 months or so of ownership.) As far as I can tell that was done by the windscreen fitting company nominated by the previous owners' insurance company with no problems at all.
Subtext - I think my fingers are firmly crossed, I'll be watching the fitter like a hawk, making sure that any damage is noted before and after, but hoping for the best. I'll take some photos of the way the current screen lies in the aperture and make sure that the new screen does the same. Part of the problem is that I don't actually know what a badly-fitted windscreen looks like, so I won't know what to look out for when the job is done ...
Oli.