I upgraded sequentially rather than miss out a year (although it's tempting to miss a year now and then - doing it annually can be a pain). I don't remember having any particular problems, and don't think 2012 is that different from 2010 really. Maybe some refinements and improvements, but I don't think you'll be lost!
Sounds good! Although I always look forward to nifty new stuff, there's never time for a learning curve on my projects!
Changing over won't effect you too much other than screwing up your tool bars and missing out on the 2011 what's new info. Should run fine, though I believe in 2011 they started forcing more of the texture and appearance options down your throat... Bets of luck. Design... Sub'd Modeler? Didn't see anything about that I'll have to look around more.
You have probably upgraded by now but I'd be interested in how it's gone. I started with SW 2010 after using Inventor. That version fell over several times a day, hung, crashed and generally got in the way of anything I wanted to do. SW2012 seems a lot more stable and I only lose it occasionally. There may be more tricks in the later version but all I really wanted it to do was stop crashing. This wasn't inadequate hardware either, the machine was fast two years ago and is still fast. Oddly enough, 2011 drag and drop copy and mate was quick and reliable, it seems less able now. D'oh!
SW gets better and better each year. Before 2007 it s*cked and blew hard. They did a great job over the last 4 years pushing those tools. impressive and that says a lot since Im a die hard Pro/E user ...
