Question: Two questions about dsolve

I have 2 questions.

1) The help pages discuss the use of functions described by piecewise when using dsolve. The examples are clear enough but nothing is said about using the numeric option and piecewise. I get an error message for a very simple example: y' +R(t) y^2 = 0. Are I correct in assuming that dsllve numeric cannot deal with piecwise continuous functions?

2) I tried to solve a system of 2 second order constant coefficient linear ODEs using dsolve. After a very long wait (over an hour) I gave up. I tried again using "method=laplace" and got an instant answer. I did not bother to mention it here but it occurred again, this time with a fourth order and second order constant coefficient system. Very strange! I know that the laplace transform is a very useful tool; shouldn't Maple also know that?