i never tried the beta. i used the 0.9.3 and the 1.00 versions and i like it for its speed. it has a few annoynaces like the password storer or w/e is messed up...but for general speed i like it. I don't know why my IE6 is so SLOOOWWW, maybe it's my network or something.
Yes, I tried it even when it was in beta and it sucked badly. I gave it a second chance with the 1.00 version, but after a couple of hours I deleted it permanently.