Did you have the current version of the one that you had? Nero updates their software constantly, and usually you should be able to do at least some of the updates for free. Probably not to Nero 8, and maybe not from 7.0.xxxx to 7.5.xxxx, but you may want to check.
I use Nero constantly and it very rarely causes any issues. I don't use the NeroVision part a lot, but I do occasionally and it's always worked fine for me as well.
That being said, I do always disable Nero Scout and that darn toolbar it adds...