As far as the OP:
Yeah, I think a few of the edits from the late '90s edited versions came off awkwardly in areas, (due to tech limitations at the time) but as a whole I prefer them.
To be honest I think Lucas is much more of an artist than Abrams, or even Speilberg could ever be. I know this might seem odd to some so-called purists (that's really subjective, and some might argue that the artist's vision is as pure as you can get, not the audiences short-range wants), but Return of the Jedi is actually my favorite Original Trilogy film, and I think the prequels were his strongest work and made the originals even better.
Here's just one of many articles that doesn't resort to the lame "Jar Jar sucks" trope: