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They will load faster, it's easier for deployment, and you'll be able have them under version control.
Creating panels styles can be very powerful. You can define certain styles for your client to choose from, so they can choose what type of display the panel pane will be like.
CCK formatters are pieces of code that allow you to render a CCK field content how you want. In Drupal 6 this basicaly means a theme function.
Every day a ton of new drupal modules come out.