davidr - you are correct in that new cans will have a tighter light distribution than the old squares. The reason for the switch is that one of the old squares flickers and spits - so that there is a wiring or fitting problem there. Accordingly I have removed the bulb on that one unit. I thought that if I am going to replace one unit that I might as well replace all of them at the same time or it might not look good. In addition an electrician told me that the old square lights are "dangerous" as they dont have thermal cut-offs and are thus fire hazards....

Technically yes. You'd need to figure out the project cost though

Worth X-posting to lighting forum. Initial reaction--you're asking a lot of track pendants. We used to have a fluorescent box like yours. Hideously ugly, but it put out a ton of ambient light. Pendants are best suited for task downlighting--i.e. over an island. They do not typically put out much uplight, and often use relatively small bulb wattages. Unless you use a ton of big pendants, you'll end up with very spotty and uneven diffuse ambient lighting. Other thoughts would be to couple pendants with some source of ambient lighting: either wall sconces, if practical, or some type of larger ceiling mounted fixture. There are, it is true, big pendants that provide uplighting, like the ones we used: but even with these, we added a ton of recessed cans to ensure adequate light.

Congratulations on the new condo! While recessed lighting looks sleeker than track lighting, I don't see any urgency in replacing the track lighting since you have other remodeling priorities (unless you really, really hate it). Unless this is a flip and you need to please some buyer in the near future, replacing the track could easily wait for a year or two. If the track only bothers you a little, you could look at keeping the track but replacing the track heads. There are only really three types of tracks, so once you figure out which standard yours is, you can buy heads that work on it, with a different look and maybe a different beam angle (I see "hot spots" on the cabinets from the current heads). Do you expect to sit at the counter a lot, or only occasionally? Backless stools generally aren't as comfortable as ones with back support. I love the look of the ones you chose, though.