If your only reason to upgrade was to make Poser 4 style renders-then I guess it was not much better. If you want to make more realistic renders-then it was a significant improvement.

I don't use Ppro2010 for anything these days either-just 2012- but I use SSS and blurred reflections- among other things. If I recall-blurred reflections were much slower with 2010-and of course-there was no SSS.

My 2012 still contemplates i's navel when switching back to preview-but it is a quick look instead of a prolonged wait.