The 3D interface has been substantially improved, with many of the capabilities surfaced in a panel for easier, less menu-driven and a more intuitive navigational interface. It's especially optimized for working with 3D text, which remains editable, though beginners may still become overwhelmed with a lot of the options. And It can't handle everything; I tried to use a grunge font, Stomper, and it told me the path was too complex to extrude. Adobe claims faster and better raytracing and extrusions, interactive shadows, and 3D stereo viewing and printing. I don't know if the render speed is faster, but it still lacks the intelligence of a full-fledged 3D package; for instance, it can't render on a per object basis or per area, you have to wait for it to render the entire scene (which it doesn't seem to put on a separate thread). And as far as I can tell, you don't have any control over the quality of the working view. Still it seems much more usable than the previous version, and definitely worth upgrading for if you're a heavy 3D user.