option clicking on the Quick Mask Mode button use to toggle between masked and selected areas, but it doesn't seem to work in cs3...i've tried it on 2 different machines with no luck, does anyone else have the same result?

It still basically works that way, only it's more ants-based than mask based now. Holding opt/alt inverts the ants when leaving qm view.

Adding shift cycles through all views, that might help you.