But at the core of darkcoin mixing, it's still coinjoin (+denominations). The only difference is that the mixing sends the coins back to your addresses instead of other people's addresses so that you can later send them without bothering about the transaction flow being visible - as the link backwards (to you) has already been broken. And of course you don't have to wait for something (mixing) that has already been done.
I lost track of how many but and differences you made reference to.
It's still got wheels, but unlike a horse and cart, there is an engine, gears, dice for the mirror....
