Using all versions of Superman, we know this:
- Kryptonians have a much more advanced DNA than humans
- Kryptonians have some of their organs in different places
- Some of those organs are more developed than ours
- Their powers do not come from the complexity of their DNA but rather from the atoms that make up their bodies
- Kryptonians have a longer life span than humans, although they were never clear if it was due to genetic enhancements or simply because of their more advanced technology
This being said, you get a pretty good idea of how different kryptonians are from humans.
Has for the times humans gained or robbed Superman powers, it was never a permanent thing, even when magic was involved. What happened in most cases was that the energy in Superman body got totally or partially transfered to a human being and during the process, the human gains his powers and Superman seems to have become depowered. But it was something natural to expect, the same happens when a magical person transfers or gets their magic transfered to someone else. He or she also seems to lose their powers, but they don't. They simply need time so their bodies can recuperate from the drain. The same goes for Superman.
I'm sure you're refering to the times in both "Lois and Clark" and "Smallville" tv series, where a simple bolt of lightning could totally or partially transfer his powers to a human. Honestly I never believed any of those stories because they were to ridiculous to believe.
And no. The humans didn't became kryptonians, because of one fundamental clue... Kryptonite didn't affect them has it should if they really became kryptonian.
There were actually four times in comics (that I remember) when the gain of kryptonian powers was not by lightning.
When Supergirl created X-Kryptonite (not to be confused with Kryptonite-X also known has Kryptisium).
When Superman got exposed to blue sunlight, he gained the power known has Super-Vision, where he gave Jonathan Kent the same powers has a kryptonian.
When Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent were at a exposition of ancient pieces from different and past cultures, the Silver Banshee was after a necklace that could grant people that touched it, their immediate most deep desire. And at the time Bruce desired to have Superman powers, and Clark desired to be a simple human. The end result...! Clark lost all his powers to Bruce. And at that time, it did seemed like a permanent transfer, but ultimately Clark got his powers back, because Bruce went bat shit crazy (pun intented) and had to be stopped.
When The Chief (the leader of the Doom Patrol) discovered what really made kryptonians have powers. He got hold of a kryptonian from New Krypton, in the pre-flashpoint timeline, and did some really sick and twisted experiments on him. He basically created a room with artificial red sunlight so the kryptonian would have no powers, put him into a induced coma, and while he was still alive, he open him up, so he could completely examine him. After extensive tests he determined that what made kryptonians have powers under different sunlight than red, was no special organ, or even their complex DNA, but rather their atomic makeup. Kryptonians had unique and exotic atoms that gave them a unique physiology that granted them their powers. Because he couldn't alter the atoms in his body he created a machine that would replace the atoms in his body with those in the kryptonian. He effectively and permanently gained kryptonian powers. But the transfer did more than just atomic switch, it also transfered the kryptonian mind and he started going more crazy than he naturally was, and Superman stopped him.
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