Well I have learned that depending on what D&D edition one learned from is the one most likely to appeal. I started out with 1E and when 2E came out neither I nor my friends picked up on it. We thought it was a waste of time and money. Not only were rules out and out changed or modified, but also a ton of new books along with a whole new world was now offered. This required us to spend money we didn't have on new rules and a new world and we were adamant that TSR wasn't going to get anymore of our cash. This also resulted in Greyhawk being shelved and Ferun (spelling?) now the official setting of all modules and support. Coupled with Judges Guild going under, the P&P world we knew was no more. Essentially we gave up playing, though, to be fair and balanced, a great deal of our moving on had to do with changes in jobs, location, marriage, and family. Over the years we still have gotten together and play an adventure or two of 1E but nothing like in the past.
So, I have had a lot of years of D&D P&P under my belt. This past Christmas vacation I had my first chance to play about 5 days straight of 3E rules and my conclusion... I love it! The DM was absolutely excellent. I find 3E far surperior to 1E (can't speak for 2E obviously). As for Monte and his stance on 3E and 3.5E well then go over to
www.montecook.com and read his official position on the making and publishing of 3.5. He has some real issues with WotCoast because he feels it wasn't necessary. I am not a defender of Monte Cook in the least, but as far as I know his Unearthed Arcana World setting is based on what ever WotCoast say the rules are. He came up with his own world while using the open license d20 system.
Speaking of the d20. I love this system as well. There are a lot of cool worlds and modules from many excellent publishers out there. To name a few: Necromancer Games who will be publishing Judges Guild's brand new redition of their classic City State of the Invincible Overlord and their Wilderlands Campaign setting, White Wolf (who does the Scarred Lands), Green Ronin Publishers, and many, many others. Though I have to admit some of the best games I have ever played in were ones designed by DMs.
In conclusion I agree with philip in that often the best system is mixed. Since one as DM calls the shots then one can modify as one sees fit as long as game balance isn't sacrificed and one's players are aware of this. For example, the DM I played under is stanchly opposed to the Sorceror class seeing it as being unbalancing for game play. Fair enough, and we play on. Just my 2 cents worth.