Alan,you've had a drive of the 2012 i30,did the windows seen too small? 
I was not aware of the windows being smaller - in fact the interior felt much more spacious and lighter than my current car.
What I did notice is that the A pillars are raked more steeply and may be thicker than the current model - the three quarter front view seems to have a slightly wider blind spot. Not big enough to hide a double decker bus - but a fast moving motorbike could be missed at an angular junction unless you are careful. Having said that - I felt the same about the focus and two holiday hire cars recently. One was a Citroen Picasso and the other a Renault Megane both of which had much bigger blind spots. The Megane had almost zero over-the-shoulder visibility with big head rests, small rear side windows a thick C pillar and a small rear window.
Don't forget that the motoring media have an agenda to protect European manufacturers from young upstarts. Almost every review has nit-picked something about the i30. It is clear that the big guys are worried - as they should be.
