
For 1.4, the drag handle will likely be finally going away to make room for more visual space in the window (scroll bar removal on Lion machines) and for a more straightforward approach to copying information, as we have already implemented in 1.2.6. These tools use higher-resolution data (PDF versions, for example) which the system then translates to other image formats as necessary.
The right tool for capturing the current screen state is Grab, which is a system utility and takes an exact screen shot.