I think it changes it for the worse. The trouble is that skills need to be balanced against each other, at least to a certain degree. 3.5 isn't great for this, of course, but the consolidation doesn't help. Perception and Stealth are just too cheap for what they do.
What do I mean by this? Well, in Pathfinder everyone takes Perception. Furthermore, the Wis-based characters are a lot better at it than the Rogue is. Skill consolidation makes sense where there is a skill that is too weak, like merging Jump/Climb/Swim into Athletics or folding Use Rope's paltry uses into Climb and Escape Artist. Search, Spot, Listen, Hide, and Move Silently are fine as they are.
The problem is that you're blaming the wrong thing for the problem. First off, I think it's kind of silly that sneaking around requires 4 rolls (Hide v. Spot, Listen v. Move Silently). Very few, if any, other games do it that way. It's clearly a vestige of an older, clunkier system. The idea that sneaking should be broken up into its constituent parts (and remember, this is a game without a dodge or parry mechanic) is a bit bonkers.
Secondly, Perception is just an all-around useful skill for someone who is clamoring around ancient ruins and worrying about orc ambushes. That's not much of a stretch. Stealth has limited application as nobody who generally wears a lot of armor will be able to use it very successfully. I don't know if skills really can be balanced against each other in this or any game.
Thirdly, and probably most importantly, you're blaming a problem, and a non-trivial one, namely that characters who you would think are good at something aren't necessarily b/c good at a skill is driven by other things than class/archetype, at the feat of skill consolidation. It's instead a function of other things, such as MAD v. SAD.
That being said, is Perception a class skill for everyone in Pathfinder? I know PF makes cross-class skills less of a big deal, but in 3.5, absent making a commitment to being perceptive, the Cleric is never going to be as perceptive as a Rogue -- cross-class ranks will create a huge gulf. And, for the love of Moradin, let us not pretend that Pathfinder was the one who came up with skill consolidation, it's been kicking around for a long time. Even in Pathfinder there should be a 3 point swing there. At high levels the Cleric's super awesome Wisdom will outpace that, but by the same token the party scout will be able to throw fairly trivial resources into the +X to Perception/Spot/Listen items to keep the separation.
So, a high-Wisdom character who wants to be great at Perception will be behind someone like a Rogue, unless she puts resources into it. That is, unless she invests a feat, takes a class where Perception is a class skill, and gear in being good at it. And, that's fine, she's then said by virtue of the system "nobody sneaks up on this Cleric!"
Or, she could just play a Druid, who get it as a class skill ... fucking Druids :/
