I would highly recommend the Production Assistant. Download it and play with it. I have been thoroughly impressed with it. At first I didn't think I would use it that much for the type of work I do, but it is great!
My Account shows no Upgrade to Pro 9 under My Software and no order under My Orders. When I placed the order, I received no confirmation from Sony, but I wasn't worried because it seemed several others had mentioned that they also received no confirmation.
Have upgraded to IE 8 and since that most of my downloads - and now also that one from Sony - do not work.
Will power up my laptop - it still has the old IE 7 that works.
Yes, I just tried downloading. In the authentication step, my user name and password (Version 8 Pro serial number), don't pass muster, and I can't download.