In fact, the video on the theatrical versions is so awful, even if the changes to the films caused you to make death threats to George Lucas, you still may reach for the updates. The prints used are from 1997, and it looks like it. Not only is grain unbearable, the resolution causes excessive pixelation and aliasing throughout. Colors are faded to the point of being lost, and the black levels are washed out. None of the widescreen discs are anamorphic either. These problems are true of all three films in this latest round of home video releases. It's inexcusable. 
Audio has likewise been left alone. The audio is presented in 2.0 surround. It stands as an example of the amount of work put into the 5.1 EX presentation on the first DVD update. Explosions have no punch given there is no LFE channel and the dialogue has a scratchy quality. There is some minor use of the single faux surround channel and the Death Star trench run sounds superb for the audio format used. Even with that, it's hard to go back after listening to the effort put forth to restore and add to the sound when the films were re-released. 
Commentaries are included on the first disc of each set. This is the same one fans have likely heard before when they viewed the trilogy in box set form. Nothing has been added or taken away. As for the extras over on disc 2, it doesn't take long to describe. There's nothing here aside from a trailer for the Lego Star Wars II video game and a demo of the Xbox version.
This is a purely money motivated set of releases, and with the lack of any new restoration, features, or changes, likely a highly profitable one as well. This is a release for the die-hard fans that have run out of space trying to satisfy their urge for the true originals on bootlegs, laserdiscs, videodiscs, VHS, and VCDs. Casual fans will be perfectly happy with the box set they grabbed last year.
Article comments
1 - John Guilfoil
Spot on, Matt.
Their merch and games are still selling very well, The Wall Street Journal did a story on it recently. They're clearing trying to cash in on the residual success of the film-universe.
But can you really blame them?
2 - Paul Coddington
Are the remastered versions (disc 1) identical to the the previous box set in content? That is, do they make the previous DVD release redundant? Or are the extras different?
3 - Matt Paprocki
They're the same exact discs in every way, even the art on the top of the disc. The only extra is the commentary, the same one that was on the remastered discs originally.
4 - Distell
The cover art of these is better looking than the boxed set.
I am willing to give up my box set to get all 3.The pleasure of having them is you get to see both versions.