I bought CS6 version some time ago and I noticed that Adobe has removed the preview function when opening files in their latest version of Photoshop. Is there an option to enable it again or is there any reason for doing that from Adobe?
I am not sure, but as you have said, Adobe wants Bridge to be more useful. Let's just hope that they will listen to their users/fans and make their software even more great.
I think Bridge is their wish but because of it's slow functionality people might not be satisfied. I think Adobe must improve their programming and make all their software more fluid and faster.
So, Bridge is the official solution. Or older version.