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I've been using Expression Blend 3 since I was able to ge my hands on the early bits and I absolutely love it. It is currently in beta, but for developing and designing UI's with Silverlight 3 (also in beta) it makes my life so much easier. For the past 2 weeks I have been working on a Silverlight 2 project and I am consequently using Blend 2 on that PC. Going back to Blend 2 has made it very clear to me how much more productive I am in Blend 3.
The changes that give me the most productivity are the simplest ones. For example, while viewing the split panes with both design and XAML shown I can type XAML and intellisense helps me complete my thoughts. Blend 2 basically had a colorful notepad for XAML editing. This is huge because sometimes I know what I want to do but I am not sure how to do i tin the designer. For example, I wanted to add a DataTemplate recently to a ListBox, but I could not remember the XAML node name and hierarchy to get there. With Blend 3 a quick hit of CTRL-SPACE shows me the valid XAML nodes that are relevant in the context as a child of
Blend 3 has a bunch of other supported features, related to Silverlight 3 as well. I love the effects ... it comes with Blur and Shadows. These effects can be achieved through much more effort in Silverlight 2, but in v3 the tools make it simple to add an effect. Storyboards are easy to follow and to create animations, the Visual State Manager makes creates visual states (mouseover, click, etc) straightforward, and the best feature of all is one that has been around with Blend 2, too: the ability to search for a property in the property window. This is great since often I can't remember where the property is in the property window. :)
Blend 3 also adds in a feature that allows you to add sample data to a project. No more guessing at what the view will look like with data in it in design mode. Create some sample data, drag it to the control and bind it design time and poof! You have a much clearer picture of your UI.
While Blend 2 (with SP 1 so it works well with Silverlight 2) is really great, Blend 3 and its little things have made me even more productive.
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I have used Adobe's offerings while doing Flex and MS with Blend and VS. BOTH have their good points and bad. I will say Blend 3 has really added another notch in the game and really has added to productivity. John has hit the nail on the head with the value Blend 3 will offer over Blend 2. The FACT I now have a code editor in Blend 3 really adds to the quick ability to make 'quick' code adjustments. Granted, switching between Blend and VS can be a bit of a pain, but having seen Catalyst in action, it may not be all that bad. I'll have to wait until Adobe release FB4 and Catalyst to really know if Adobe has done it better, same, (or not). We developers/designers have our preferences, but in todays market, know all these tools is REALLY an asset. I love Flex and Silverlight. Since my clients have different environments, I can offer either -- and that is a BIG plus for all of us. MS, Adobe, keep it up! It will all be good down the line for we developers/designers in the long run....