I think it's just a preference. Due to sugar problems I don't really eat refined stuff anyway (save for a treat and I think my cereal has some sugar), so I was eating core foods and counting points to begin with (after years of tweaking and struggling with my eating). Next week I will just try core without counting to see how that goes and for variety, but counting points is just comfortable, I don't mind it. I've learned on my own that an apple is much more filling than a granola bar and is much more nutritious, so I don't mind using points for fruit. My biggest confession is that I always count bananas as 1 (shhhhhhhhhh, but it hasn't broken my weight loss).
Janette you're right for some people counting points may be counterproductive. They might end the day hungry and say "but I need to stick with 22 points" and feel deprived. I don't obsess if I go over and know I am fine below a certain number of points.
Cheers!
Ali