I'm with you, I've made much more use of the pro channel stuff than I have in prior versions, mostly because I had an established way of doing things. Seeing and playing with the presets has really opened my eyes. I'm also digging into a lot more of the virtual instrument capabilities.
I never really had problems with stability in previous versions but I see far fewer UI glitches and artifacts as I work on the timeline than I used to. I'm very pleased with the decision to upgrade.