So thanks to Matthew's hearty unfaltering recommendation I gave PT 8 a test drive yesterday.
I give it a thumb's up & kudos for the new look and stability:
Overall Look: the new dark high-tech look, shaded grey scale windows, more 3-dimensional appearance.
Mix window: redesigned with 3-D greyscale appearance, high resolution meters, more interesting Fonts, rotary pan knobs.
Edit window: redesigned with Universe view at top, Lane View for easier volume automation, high resolution waveforms, more interesting vibrant colors, submenus easier to read.
So I ITB mastered a couple songs with it, imported into Sonic PMCD, burned a disc, everything works fine!
Didn't crash at all on my Mac Book Pro, and of course it sounds great.
I'll run it "offline" for awhile to get used to the the user interface, see if there are any critical bugs.
And thanks to Waltz for the Waves 6 caution.
Cheers - JT