Quote - EF (or SM if they wanna be called that) must have some good reason for adding the feature in. Guess we'll just have to sit back and wait to see what advantage/disadvantage it has to offer?

For one, compatibility. Many game engines use normal maps, many modelers export normal maps and there are more and more standalone tools to generate normal maps from high-res geometry. For example this will open new paths for creating Poser content or using content that was created for real-time applications. And it's always good to have new options, isn't it?