I agree, there are occasions when the new, static selection is difficult to see (I don't have 20x20 vision!). I was going to post a new thread, but found this one.
However I also like the associated performance improvements. I wonder, therefore, whether it would be possible to have a View menu option(e.g. View->Animate Selection) that turned on the old mode, for those occasions when there are problems with seeing the static selection. The new method should always be the default at start-up; i.e. the animated selection is not a preference, but something that is actively turned on when needed.