What differences are there between the two coins on a technical level? Meaning... has either dev team added something to the cryptonote code, or done anything to really differentiate them?

I'm still waiting for a dev to figure out a solution to the bloat issues with all cryptonote coins. It wouldn't surprise me to see a dev wander in one day with a new coin, have a fix for the bloat + gui wallet, and overshadow all existing cryptonote coins.