I just got SFML 2.0 and, after spending about an hour trying to figure out all the problems* I was having making it work and finally getting it to work, I am already liking how much better it is over v1.6.
Many thanks for all the time you've put into this. Cheers!
* Problems: It turns out, if you have ANY of the old v1.6 files in your include and library directories (I was using Visual Studio 2010 Express' VC/include and VC/lib folders), you've gotta clear them ALL out and replace them with the new files. Took me a while to figure that one out. And, apparently, I am using the 32bit version of VS2010 and thought I had been using the 64bit version, so I got the 64bit v2.0 and had linker errors. So, looks like you gotta know what bit compiler you're using, too.
tl;dr -- Solutions: v1.6 include and lib files must be replaced with v2.0 files; 32bit compiler != 64bit SFML v2.0