I'm not a fan and here's why. "Road bikes" and anything "performance" will typically put you pretty far forward on the bike to give you a stonger, more aerodynamic position. This means more weight on your hands. For me, my wrists are a lot more comfortable on the hoods of drop bars than with my hands on a flat bar. Consider how your hands hang by your side. That should be their most comfortable position. Again, i'm sure there are people who disagree, but that's my opinion.

As for commuting on a road bike, I do it everyday on one of a couple old steel road bikes. I carry all my stuff in a backpack. Then again, my commute is only 5 miles each way.