Guest, For me, the defining sound in a GMAJ7 chord is that major seventh interval G-F#(which is also a minor second), and in the version that you don't like, there are two F#'s, and octave apart--so that sound is really strong--

Your favorite version of the chord has a real strong secondary sound--the Twelveth or fifth--B-F#, which is the strongest sound in a B minor chord--

The point being that these inversions really do sound signivicantly different--even though we think of them as being comparable, they really have a different sound-- I personally like the Gmaj7 that is 3-X-4-4-3-X best--and in accompaniments, will gravitate toward dropping the D--using 3-X-4-3-X-X, if I can get away with it--it gives a really jazzy sound, walking the line between cool and out there--

It comes down to a taste thing--with my liking dissonance in the bottom--an unresolved sound, and you're liking a resolved sound in the bottom with a bent sort of sound at the top--Either one works, but each one has different possibilities--

It is really important to think about the sound of each chord alone, rather than simply as a just a passing element in a chord progression, because when we play, people hear the overall sound, not the just the notes--