It's been changed so that HTL is on by default now. The launcher needs to be updated.
First, the good news.
It seems to use less memory now.
The helios, cyclops and trebuchet load the correct texture.
The pegasus animated maps still work.
Loading times are not noticeably longer for me.
Although nothing was supposed to have been changed, I can't get the 'y' bug to work anymore (yay!).
The example of the lighting problem in the FS2 Lighting Thread (of the ulysses) isn't the case. The lighting along the wing is smooth.
Now, the bad new.
The stutters are still there. Whenever something new shows up the texture memory free goes down a bit (something is loaded) and it stutters.
The nebula looks funny, as if it's washed out or there's too much light. I'll try testing without ambient lighting to see if this occurs then too.
Finally, since this is a Bobboau build, I'll assume the reason why the intro movie doesn't play is because it isn't enabled.
Sidenote. I've found out something quite interesting. If I don't uncheck the -multilog flag, the game runs a lot slower and the sound stutters.