Wendy,
Mixer is actually a very good addition. You can have it the size you want it, display only the tracks you want, save mutes / solos on restarts, etc. You can have it as simple or complicated as you wish.

Utility tracks as I understand are only a start, I believe they will make them to respond to bar changes at some point (I hope it comes soon smile So for now, if you do not use them, you do not have to "see" them in mixer at all. They will not be in your way.

"Have we forgotten its meant to be an ACCOMPANIMENT tool..."
I think we just remembered smile arrangers, software or hardware all have at least 16 tracks. These Utility tracks will be awesome when completed. Did you know that for now, you can generate RT to follow all chord changes and copy it (with all changes) to Utility track? For temporary solution, it is workable.

With that said, many new Real tracks are great, so it worth upgrading just for that.