I need to store a few attributes of an authenticated user (I am using Membership API) and I need to make a choice between using Profiles or adding a new table with UserId as the PK. It appears that using Profiles is quick and needs less work upfront. However, I see the following downsides:

1. The profile values are squished into a single ntext column. At some point in the future, I will have SQL scripts that may update user's attributes. Querying a ntext column and trying to update a value sounds a little buggy to me.
2. If I choose to add a new user specific property and would like to assign a default for all the existing users, would it be possible?

My first impression has been that using profiles may cause maintainance headaches in the long run. Thoughts?