And as for printing - it's kind of a bad example. They revamped the printing system because it included suport for a *whole* lot more printers. And while yeah, there were some issues with it (mostly related to specific printer drivers, IIRC) they are updates out there for them.
I did notice that the number of printers supported appeared to be significantly greater. I also liked the newer set up utilities etc. - I thought they were definitely better and I think that long term it is the right direction - maybe they should have released both the old and new - giving the user the option to try the latest or use a known stable version. That way they can get the latest version out there for those that want and need it, and also provide a known stable version for those that do not have the time "try" a new version, but just need to get stuff done. Especially for what is to many people a core utility such as printing.