YAT:
Lifestyle in UAE depends on which emirate you decide to take up residence in. Dubai is very cosmopolitan, bureaucracy there is service-oriented. Go to Sharjah, and you will encounter much you know from KSA (the sheikh of Sharjah married a Saudi princess and as a result, the place went from liberal to conservative) and a bureaucracy that moves at a snail's pace.
However, in none of the emirates will you find repressive sh!t such as a prohibition for women to drive or the compulsory dressing up as coal bags.