I thought it said different maps for different figures to solve stretching. Just like it is now. That thread is a long read. It may have been in the DS forum I read that. Everything is kind of spread out amoung other forums and threads. Little bits here and there.

No groups. That is the whole point of wieght map rigging. Bones are not connected by groups as they are now. This is how the higher end apps do it. I think Carrara does it as well. Don't quote me on that one as I never rig in Carrara. But this is why bending is much better and more natural. As you can see by the images that were posted. The hand grasp looks really good. The way the breasts move with the arm pose. Two things right there that is a common complaint with the figures we use now among many.

I personally think it's a good thing to move up to the more updated tech that really is not all that new by other software/industry standards. IMHO.