Larry,
I'll try to answer your questions as best I can. Let me first say I am not an employee of MTU so don't shoot the messenger.
1. MTU changed the drive access method from ASPI drivers to a more universal MMC driver format that Windows uses. I assume you tried those other drives and they didn't read, even though they were listed as doing so. There is a test button on the default drive window that you can use with a disc in the drive and it can reset the drive information or you can just hide the drive or know it won't work at this time. More work is being done in this area so later they may work.
2. Again the interface drivers have changed and the broader access capability of the mmc interface cannot respond as fast. That's about the best I can come up with for an explanation. Actually had you gone through the version 3.xxx updates you would be saying it is much faster now as the early versions 3.001 &3.002 were much slower than it is now.
3. Microstudio has not displayed on TV or additional monitor since version 3.000 came out. This is because Microstudio is not designed for running shows and was never intended for that purpose. So MTU removed that capability.