Particle Caching Requests

I have two request that are long awaited features for anyone who uses particles frequently and have also seen forums where people have found Blender limited in this area.

1- The ability to 'apply physics' to Hair particles, then entering particle edit without loosing the simulation. In Maya it's a common practice is to simulate hair before grooming. This can save a lot of time and give a more natural look.

2- Set simulation start/end on Emitter particles, independently of Emission Start/ End or Playback Start/End Frame, similar to the cache options for hair. I realise it doesn't make complete sense to set 'cache start' independently however it could be a way to reduce the need for the currently obcsure method of activating 'allow negative frames' in preferences and then enabling an alternative start/End range .

I wonder if others are also keen to see these change. Thanks for all the hard work and amazing software.