Mass Effect 2 Gameplay Changes Debate

i work with a bunch of guys and we all have played Mass Effect 1 and 2.  Recently there has been a heated debate in my office whether the new game play changes that were covered on the bombcast, and most likely by others in the community are for the better.  These changes include reduced inventory management, weapon selections, armor selections, end mission briefings, and other game play changes between the first and second game.
 
My office is split about 50/50 on the changes.  Personally I love the new changes in the inventory and equipment management as well as a reduced specialization tree.  I feel like it makes the game flow much easier than spending a majority of my time sitting in an menu.
 
what do you guys think?  did bioware improve the system, or were you left looking for more?
 
ps. sorry if this has been brought up before. i ran a few searches for similar threads but didn't find any (mass effect 2 gameplay changes, mass effect 2 rpg). hopefully a mod will delete the topic if there is a similar one out there.

It's great that I don't have to fiddle about with a hundred slightly different shotguns any more. It was so annoying in the first game and took up so much time. I don't wanna stop every few minutes to work out whether I want 2 more shots per clip or a -5% cooldown period. I mainly just wanna shoot guys, level up and give some random Hannar a bloody good tellin off for no reason.
 
I guess the mission recap screens are a bit daft but whatever, it's nice to have a good point to save it.

I like the two games in their own unique ways which is a great thing really so I still play both games regularly.