I remember the change from corridor trains. In some ways I preferred them.
Curiously, when we travelled back from Salzburg last year, the carriages in second class were very luxurious, and they were hybrid. Half of the carriage we were in had the layout of old-fashioned corridor trains, the other half like inter-city, but they seemed more swish. The advantage of the corridor-with-compartment bits becomes obvious when a family with young children, who are quite likely to become fractious on a >6 hour journey (we were on that train from Salzburg to Frankfurt-am-Main, ie between 9.45 am and 4pm) although it started in Bishofshofen and finished in Erfurt. I've no idea how many changes of crew it had in that time.