It depends on what is important - fit and finished look vs a solution that would last for ~ 2 - 5 years. If it is the latter plug in t4 fluorescent would work. On the other hand, if the kitchen is in relatively good shape and you want the UCL to add value, it would be worth the expense to get a good UCL and have it properly installed. The better hard wired led UCL lights come from Philips (eW Profile), maxlite, ... which are not available from either HD or Lowes. The DIY UCL thread and continuation have more details.

Yes, if you use bars or tapes which have the LED emitters exposed. No if you use indirect lighting - for example edge lit panels as the LED emitters are hidden from direct line of sight. The little beads of light can be minimized through 1. A diffuser which will reduce the output. 2. Angling the light so that the light is reflected off the backsplash. This will not work if the backsplash itself is highly reflective as the beads of light will be on the backsplash. This could be quite involved. Take a look at phantom lighting solutions for some inspiration. In reality, there will be things on the countertop which will mitigate / detract from the beads of light. Here is a link that might be useful: phantom lighting

I had LED lights bars from environmental lights.com that were wonderful. With this remodel I'm going with hard wired ones from lowes. They aren't installed yet - we are just now installing the cabinets (check out my other thread). Anyway these are dimmable and linkable Here is a link that might be useful: Good earth UCL from lowes

I got what they call natural white. I accidentally ordered the soft white bars from Environmental Lighting and waited too long too return them. The bars at Superbright are about half the price. All indications are is that they exact same product. Environmental does have great customer support and will walk you through getting all the parts and tell you how to install them. I don't know about Superbright. The Supebright page it a little confusing but not too bad. Place your cursor on "bars/strips" at the top of the home page. Then "Rigid light bars", then "linear light fixtures" and click on that. You'll probably want the top product on the page - LBFA Luxbar series. Click on "See prices and buy" and select the color length and quantity and add to your cart. I don't think Superbright includes the little clips or tiny connectors for linking one bar to the next (to make one long bar as opposed to connectors that have length or wire in the middle for jumping between cabinets etc.)but they are very inexpensive. Get extra connectors as the little pins are very delicate and break easily. Be sure you get the correct transformers and dimmers. The color of the light is strictly a personal choice. Our LED ceiling lights were cooler so we went with the natural white to match them. Here is a link that might be useful: Superbright LEDs