The spells LOOK beautiful. AND the casting is not nearly as restrictive as I feared. Things like light, bodyshields and conjourations do not, thankfully, require continuous casting. But a lad in Old Hrlodon, or some such place, asked me to turn him invisible. Once upon an Oblivion I could easily have done so. But no longer. Nor, can I use an invisibility spell to protect a friend or companion from a terrible fate. There are, in fact, a great many possible spells no longer available as a result of the loss of spellcrafting. . . though other's evidently can, those of you in the Mages guild will know of whom I speak. . . many of them valuable. There always was more to spellmaking than mixing fire and lightning, though the unsubtle realized it not.
Also some of the better spells are missing. Has anyone come across an open lock spell yet? Oh, I know the devoutees of thievery hate the notion of mages having that ability, but lets be serious, whoever heard of a great wizard who couldn't open a damned locked door? Little Harry Potter learned to open locks in his first year of magic school. It might have been the first damn charm he learned.
And what the hell is with spells not being viable for underwater casting. For target spells that makes sense, but not for ALL magic. Is water suddenly anti magic??/ Bull Manure!!! Besides, if that were so, cast spells would stop working once one entered the water, which isn't the case.
There are a lot of good things to say about the spells in Skyrim. But I think the argument as to whether or not you had more wizardic options in Oblivion than you do in Skyrim is very firmly settled. You had WAY more options in Oblivion. It just didn't look as pretty.
well underwater spells cant happen cos you might electrocute yourselfs! bethes is saving your life

Hold breath and do a Uri Geller move;-) that might help! oh yeah.. dont wear any spoons in your pocket! they might bend;-)