Yes, i like your second render much better!

 In Vue 6i there is a new possibility, which pros use to speed render time for animations. It's called "Ambient Occlusion". I found Vue 6 Infinite's AO produced good looking interiors quickly.

The New Riders book "[digital] LIGHTING & RENDERING, Second Edition", by Jeremy Brin has a lot on multi-light interiors with windows. He demonstrates more of a search for realism than fast production though.

BTW, i was not suggesting you should use GI, just wanted you to see the difference between it and GR. Your GI could be improved, but i still favor GR. For example, by boosting the ambient in GI, you could get a better result (at the risk of getting 'grain' which you'd then have to fix with increased OAA and such - increasing render time a lot). Adding one or more fill lights (Point lights) would also work (maybe turn off their shadows). Again, more complexity.