Are modern clipless shoes and pedals that much better than toe clips and straps?

Clipless pedals hold your feet more securely and release easier than toe-straps and clips. As you are probably aware, it is possible to to tighten straps to the point where they must be released before the foot can be removed from the pedal. A properly functioning clipless pedal will always release the riders foot.

Apart from being safer from the clip and toe-strap pedals, the wide use of "clipless" pedals has come from marketing and fashion. You need to buy clipless shoes to be used with clipless pedals; you will not be able to wear casual shoes for the clipless pedals.

The clip and strap assemblies are still available and these are to be fixed onto normal flat pedals. I still use them myself.

Despite @ump's combative tone, he does back up what he's saying with links to evidence. GCN has also done one or two episodes that mostly debunk the benefits of being locked into your pedals. As far as I can tell, all the tests that attempt to prove or disprove the benefits of clipless pedals have been done on a treadmill in a lab; it may be that the benefits are amplified when riding in the real world. I know that I (unscientifically) just prefer to be locked in.

But the question is not about flat pedals vs clipless, it's about toeclips vs clipless. Between the two, I greatly prefer clipless pedals, for reasons already mentioned in this thread.

If you are riding with clips and straps, you either want a platform pedal that gives good support (these do exist), or you want a fairly rigid shoe so that you don't get hotspots from the pedal's plates digging into your feet. And if you're wearing special shoes anyhow, it's not a stretch to go clipless.

In any case, clipless pedals weren't intended to replace street shoes with toeclips, but slotted cleats with toeclips. Cleats have most of the disadvantages of clipless pedals, plus being much less comfortable (a tight toe strap can cut off circulation) and of course harder to get out of the pedal. The advent of SPDs made it practical to have clipless pedals with shoes that are OK to walk in.

For me, a big benefit of cycling with "clipless" pedals is that when I "clip in" to my "clipless" pedals my foot is instantly firmly attached at my ideal pre-set position-- fore/aft, inboard/outboard, toe in/toe out. When using "clips and straps" I am endlessly wiggling my foot to try to find the best position.

All this is adjustable by adjusting the position of the cleat on the shoe.

Also, purpose-built cycling shoes have a sole that is more rigid than other athletic shoes. This supports the foot during cycling, which is not what your feet have evolved to do well. Riding without proper footwear (beach cruiser and flip flops, in my case) can give you tendinitis surprisingly quickly!

I don't have the reputation to comment, or I would have just commented on one of the above excellent answers.

Opinion: Loved my Speedplays more than anything. During a hiatus, my nueropathy kicked in but good. I've gone back to toeclips feeling safer dismount, hopefully just until i can legs really suercharged back to past seasons ability.