Hey Julian,
I did an "expose" on the new Pro versino object gallery around the time it came out. You can check out my little video here: http://www.technicalrs.com/XaraStuff/
The changes that were made in Xtreme 5 Pro address many of your questions almost exactly. It might be worth the upgrade from the verino you have to the Pro version. I initially only had the standard versoin, but once I used the new object gallery all the way down to the individual object level, there was no way I was going back to layer level only! I DO, however, think that this object gallery expansion only being in the Pro version was kind of a cheap shot - I mean, I don't need the CMYK stuff or the Pro level exports and whatnot for the most part - and it would seem that the regular versions would include such a useful all-around feature, but they don't. There are a few other goodies in there as well, such as the ability to define your own shortcut keys as well - another "misplaced" feature IMHO.
Can't wait to see what changes in v6 (whenever THAT's coming). I've gotten spoiled with my favorite application - Cakewalk Sonar - they do a major revision upgrade every fall and it's really always something to look forward to.
Hope that helps.
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