It might look like a lot but over half of that post is just me trying to explain stuff for you and making a few allowances for your particular setup (eg, jQuery noconflict considerations, etc) :)
The basics for installing Fast Edit are really very simple - split a web page into 3 parts and paste a few lines of code in the right places. The rest of the logic relies on the experience of the developer. When you've been making websites a little longer, things will naturally make more sense - for example, you'll feel more comfortable using a common header, footer and menu file, and you'll realise that the benefits outweigh the "cons".
I think the belief of newer web designers (and I mean absolutely no disrespect) is that it seems quite alien to first build a lovely web page in the one html file, but then be asked to break it down into separate php files that don't easily open in a browser anymore. It almost seems like you're destroying something by putting it into a strange format that doesn't 'work', right? Not without the help of a server running php anyhow. But once you start using php, even just to use the include() concept, you'll never look back :)
If you like Fast Edit and plan to keep it in mind for your next project, you'll be at an advantage because next time you can build your web layout/template into the header and footer files from the start, which will cut out a big chunk of work. Its much easier to build gradually and test regularly in a CMS throughout the design process than it is to convert and restructure a website that's already complete, and with Fast Edit using an open header and footer file, it can support just about anything that the developer wants to build into it. In fact Fast Edit is probably much more versatile than it appears at first glance ;)