I have canti brakes on 3 bikes and I love them. They key is to set them up properly and replace the pads with something like Kool Stop salmons. A lot of cyclists who promote V brakes seem to gloss over their disadvantages. Altho V-brakes apparently do have good stopping power, you have to set the pads very close to the rims, which can make it harder to fit larger tires and cause problems if you rims get even slightly out of true.

I've got 3 different kinds of cantis on my bikes -- Shimano R550s, Shimano CX50s and Tektro 720s. They all function perfectly. They stop well and do not squeal. They are easy to open when installing or removing wheels, and can handle very large tires. I have replaced the stock pads on all of my brakes with Kool Stops.