Shield Depleter, Massive Shield Depleter, Shield Disruptor and Shields in general

Have a number of questions regarding shield only weapons.

1. Why would someone choose Massive Shield Depleter over the regular Shield Depleter? The Massive does roughly 50% more damage, but has a fire rate FIFTEEN times slower than the regular version, and takes up 5 times as much space?

2. The Massive Shield Depleter's description says it "saps ALL of a target's shields". If it indeed drains all the shields, why are there damage numbers when it clearly says it does no other damage?

3. Does the damage for the Shield Disruptor, which targets only the Generator, SKIP shields?

4. If I used the Shield Disruptor on an enemy ship with full shield, and the weapon does indeed skip shields and kill all generators, does its remaining shield points all go away?

5. Are phased shields worth installing? There seems to be only one or two phased weapons but these shields take up more space and provide less protection than regular ones.

6. At max level (in Stock), a Shield Regenerator gives 80 points per second. Since most combat tends to be fast and furious, wouldn't it be better to spend that hull space on an ACTUAL Generator instead of making the shield regenerate by that tiny amount?

Thanks agin.