Do you hate just the old technology fluorescent or the new stuff too? Do you know the difference between them? Most people with this strong opinion developed it because of the poor color properties and possible flicker of the old. New has higher color rendering, more color temperature choices and a higher frequency above what humans can see flicker. It is also dimmable with the right ballasts. However, it is still not quite as nice in some ways [...]

Retrofit means that you can buy and install a dimmable ballast on a fluorescent fixture that you already have.
4 pin lamps: Title 24 requires electronic ballasts. It is easy to tell that you are complying by the number of pins that make up the electrical connection on the compact fluorescent lamp. Two pin is for magnetic ballast, four pin is for electronic ballast.