The difference here though, despite any of our personal tastes, is that Abrams is approaching this project with an outsiders perspective. This something that Lucas never had the ability to do, and that is (in my opinion) the biggest thing that went wrong with the prequels.
After years of being on the inside, Lucas had no understanding of what made Star Wars important in the first place. I'm not accusing him of trying to sell toys as many of us like to do, but the cultural marketing of Star Wars is what influenced Lucas' decision making. For example, Darth Vader was only a larger than life character to the audience, not to the other characters in that world. But Lucas didn't understand that. And that resulted in a story that focused on Anakin/Vader being presented as this fallen Christ-like figure. Or perhaps look at the Jedi and their trusty weaponry. The marketability of that iconography certainly influenced Lucas in making the Jedi being a huge focus, and such constant use of Lightsabers, scene after scene. There are countless examples like these, and although that "cultural marketing" perspective may not have been his sole influence, it's still an obvious factor.
Now don't get me wrong, there are definitely certain fans out there who love the prequels, some of whom may only see Star Wars for its superficial imagery, and if they had any say in Lucas' plan, they would have made very similar decisions. But a successful filmmaker who understand the history of both Star Wars as well as film history in general, will be far more capable of understanding what makes Star Wars interesting and engaging.
I'm not putting my full faith in Abrams just yet, but I am optimistic about what he'll be able to pull off. You may not like his other movies, his aesthetic style, his interpretation of the Star Trek universe, etc, but at the very least, he always gets engaging performances from his cast, so we're already improving upon the prequels.