[wp-hackers] The loop, old and new way - which one is better?

[Mark Shields]

Way back when, between the current version and 1.2, the loop was
something like this:

<?php if ($posts) : foreach ($posts as $post) : start_wp(); ?>
<?php endforeach; else: ?>
<?php endif; ?>

It changed to:

<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<?php endwhile; else: ?>
<p><?php _e('Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.'); ?></p>
<?php endif; ?>

Several questions.  

Why the change?
Which is better?
I have a plugin (Breadcrumb Navigation)  that used a modified version
(thanks to Mark Jaquith and Tor Bjornrud for help with that!) of the
first loop.

<?php	if ($posts) : foreach ($posts as $ct=>$post) : start_wp();
		if (!$ct){
                }
	endforeach; else:
	endif;
?>

To get the plugin to work properly so it can make use of $post and all
the variables/functions that work after start_wp(); is run.  Here's
the million dollar question:  how can I use the new loop to work? 
Someone made mention of the rewind_posts(); function.  I attempted to
use this and failed.

If you're not familiar with the plugin, it's designed to do several
things, but mainly:

When $single is set, display a "home" link, categories in a post, and
the post name.
When $cat is set, display a "home" link, and the current category viewing

And so forth for pretty much each different type of page.
-- 
- Mark Shields