its more just a case of getting used to the bike, but in general a short - mid range bike are more easy to bunnyhop than really long ones.
generally people run higher rise stems on high bb rise bikes - the vinco for example uses a mod stem.
the most important thing about brakes is the setup, maguras ain't just better than vee's - with a good setup and good pads, both maggies and vee's can provide plenty of power.
i think magura's are popular, not because they are better than vee, but because they were better than cantilevers and u brakes back in the day. People often stick to what they know works.