I like cartridge filters because they're GENERALLY cleaner and easier to deal with. Spin-ons start dripping oil as soon as they're loose - some cartridge filters do too, but some don't. If nothing else, I like being able to put a ratchet on the thing and it will come off, no matter how ham fisted the guy that installed it was! In any event, I'm glad to hear the trend appears to be away from spin-ons.
The older Mercedes Diesels had a bottom mounted cartridge filter that was easy enough to get off, but damn near impossible to get back on and have it NOT leak. Both my father and I cursed those damn things every time we did an oil change - and we both ended up paying somebody else to deal with it and we both had instances of even the mechanic screwing it up! Come 1977, Mercedes fixed it by replacing it with a top mounted cartridge setup that is the BEST damn oil filter arrangement I've ever seen, bar none. My '85 has it, my old '74 did not. Mercedes has done some bone headed things in their history, just like any other CarCo - but when they fix it, they fix it right!