Yourslicka, to answer your questions:
I do not have any lenses for the 717 (the base lens is not removable) because each lens, teleconversion and wide angle, is $300 from Sony and I don't really trust lenses from any other company for this camera (if there are any).
As for macro, I only have a few complaints. Usually it is somewhat hard for me to take macro shots with this camera since the subject has to be nearly touching the lens while I'm fully zoomed out. Otherwise the subject immediately blurs since the focus changes when zoomed. Occasionally, the huge lens causes a shadow on whatever you are shooting, and the pop-up flash doesn't help much in macro situations.
Besides all this, I absolutely love this camera! The quality is so much better than my old Olympus C-3000. However, I still take the Olympus when I need to be stealthy, such as on NYC streets

The 717 is just too bulky. It is very comfortable to hold though.
One flaw I personally dislike is the light metering. I usually adjust aperture/speed to get a +0.3 or +0.7 EV because 0 EV on this camera is just waaay too dark. The LCD may confuse people too because it always projects the image much brighter than what you would see when you upload it to a computer.
Looking forward to getting an 828.