I meant the topic starter but okay.

The anime and the manga started to split ways early on in the anime but it still followed somewhat until the middle. I like the anime, it was what got me into full metal alchemist  in the first place. The gate concept in the anime confuses the heck out of me though!

It confused me a little bit too at first.
The way I see the gate is as a combination of limbo between two worlds and ultimate power and knowledge. The thing that binds the alchemical world to the Gate are the laws that Ed and Al talk about (equivilant exchange, no human transmutations, and whatnot). If you break the laws, then you are drawn in and shown and essentially given "ultimate power", but in return you lose something (body parts, brothers, etc.) and most importantly (in the case of human transmutation) your deeds spawn a Homunculus. I can explain how the two different worlds interact and stuff, but it says how in the anime.

Alright guys, I finally almost finished the Manga (well, I'm up to latest Volume anyway). It's pretty fucking awesome. Though the Anime will always have a place in my heart, the Manga was just as good as all of you said it was and more. The character development was magnificent and was way more than expected. The minor changes that I listed earlier really were minor compared to the grand scheme of the Manga and all the changes that took place. Also, things were much better explained in the Manga and made more sense like the Gate/Truth and Homunculus (made more sense that they were created monsters that liked the way they are, instead of longing to be human and being "replicates" of transmuted humans like in the anime. I was longing for more after the end of the Anime, and eventually made the mistake of watching the Movie (the movie really soured the wonderful experience I had with the Anime and made we wish I had never seen it), and the Manga is just what I was searching for. So, thanks to [Sam] for making this thread that actual led me to read the Manga, and thanks to everyone's input. :D