Tascam US-144mkII?

[KinoFourpaws]

So, I was considering getting a Tascam US-144 interface to use for my recording, but when I went to take a look at it again today, I found this instead:

TASCAM US-144mkII

I have looked over the specs for this new version and it LOOKS like it's mostly the same, but I am not entirely sure. I'm wondering if it would be better for me to get this updated interface instead of the original one. I'm guessing it's too soon for anyone else to have gotten it and given it a good run-through, but if someone has gotten, or is getting it, could you let me know what you think of it? It'd be very helpful to know.

Also, another thing I am concerned about is whether it will be compatible with my computers' operating systems. I have an old, old desktop with XP and two newer laptops, one with the Windows 7 RC (which will probably be reverted back to Vista if I can't get a copy of the final release in the next six months or so) and one with OS X Snow Leopard. I will probably be using it more with the two laptops than I will with the desktop, though the latter I will probably still want to use on occasion. I've read on here that the original US-144 apparently has a problem with Snow Leopard for one of the other users. Does anyone know of or think I should expect compatibility issues for XP or Snow Leopard with this Mark II? And if you don't, but are intending to test it in the future, could you let me know what you think then?

One final thing: the specs for the Mark II mention "S/PDIF stereo coaxial input and output (US-144mkII only)" while the specs for the original just say "S/PDIF Digital Input & Output" and "4 in, 4 out operation (analog, S/PDIF)". I'm rather confused as to what this apparent difference means, and considering the fact that I am wanting to use S/PDIF between my preamp and the interface, I really want to find out before I make any final decisions with buying anything. Considering that my preamp is an Aphex 207D, is this change a good thing or a bad thing?

Sorry for the long post. I'm not very experienced with the technological aspect of recording, so a lot of this feels like it's Greek to me at the moment and I have lots and lots of questions that I need to figure out. So any insight and tips I can get about this would be greatly helpful!

[garww]

Drivers are an issue. Maybe more so with Tascam. The spdif won't mean much if you can't get reliable drivers. You will probably have the best luck with XP drivers.

When XP came out, the W2000 drivers were more stable - that's just the nature of driver support.