EDK post 7.1 Opinions

I was just wondering what others thought about the 'New 8.X' EDK.
Three people in my group at work have used the EDK since 6.1 and we are
all a little disappointed with the newest EDK's.  It's functionality is
the same, but the GUI and interfaces are all apparently totally
different.  There are things that we got used to using in the older
versions that are different here (ex. core version pull-down menus for
one).  I know that part of the problem is that we are used to the old.
But there are things that seem like the software to a step backwards.
I feel that the intuitive-ness has gone down.  I liked the flow of the
old software.  Creating the memory mapping was more intuitive in older
releases.  I liked the port and signal controls in the older as well.

So what do other users think?

We also ran into some problem with downloading the bit file into our
FPGA via the EDK.  For some reason, if we rebuild the project and try
to download, it doesn't work.  Our workaround that we discovered is
that if we 'wiggle' the JTAG we can download all we want.  And by
'wiggle' I mean using impact to either erase the PROM we have on board
or program it (any .mcs file -- it doesn't matter).  Keep in mind, we
are only trying to DOWNLOAD the bit file into the FPGA.  We aren't even
messing with the PROM.  This never occurred before EDK 8.2 and we have
confirmed it's a problem on multiple computers/setups.  We haven't
tried on any other board except ours.