Can anyone tell me what's the difference between Director's Cut and the original? Is it possible to get the "Director Cut"-less version anywhere?

from:
http://qube-game.com/faqs/#difference

Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut is the definitive version of the first person puzzle game. It has an all-new narrative with voice acting from the likes of Rachel Robinson (Fang in Final Fantasy XIII) and Rupert Evans (As seen in Ridley Scott’s TV drama, World Without End). There are several new hidden puzzles in the game, brand new soundtrack and a time trial mode.

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Dunno the answer to your other question.

edit:
ninja'd

Also, the speedrun extras are really quite terrible. They don't suit the flavor of the game at all. The game itself is enjoyable, though.

So far I only played the original version and I didn't feel that it needed a story or voiceovers, so I'm a bit afraid that the charm of the game might have been reduced in the DC version by the introduction of these elements unless they're really really good. But the original version had a nasty bug of making your only savegame disappear under certain conditions (unkonwn to me, but I got burned by it). I hope they fixed that in the Director's Cut.

The writing is just okay, but the delivery is very good. I've only played the GOG version with the voiceover, and it felt coherent. It suited the game quite well.

I can barely imagine the game without the voiceover. (Which is not to say it's an improvement!) I suspect it may be more mysterious without, but it may lack motivation other than, "okay, next puzzle". Hard to envision properly, now I've played the voiced version.

Thanks.

I really wish the original was offered too, if only so I could compare.

EDIT:
I found additional info:

"A narrative is added to the game, in the form of non-interactive voiceovers told to the player between puzzles, written by Rob Yescombe. To accommodate this, a number of elevators have been added between sectors and in other locations, and existing elevators are often slower. Several other cutscenes are also slightly altered to better support the plot. Cutscenes can now be paused on the PC with the escape key, but still not skipped. The game includes a new music score.

Although the majority of puzzles remain unchanged, several are modified or rearranged and a small number are removed entirely. The most changes occur in a 'dark' sector, which is directly shortened by the removal of the most difficult puzzles. Many puzzles using wires have been re-designed or altered to make the wire behavior more consistent. Hidden puzzles were already in some map areas, but at least one more has been added. Additionally, the player's progress (shown for a portion of the game on a light-up 3x3 board) is now shown on a 2x3 board.

Graphical features have been improved, including the addition of fire and smoke effects. However, the PC version has fewer audio sliders - where the original had separate settings for master audio, music and sound effects, the Director's Cut retains only the master slider.DLC for the previous game - a "race against the qlock" time trial mode - and Oculus Rift support are also included in the Director's Cut."

http://www.giantbomb.com/q-u-b-e-directors-cut/3030-42875/

I also only played the Director's Cut, but for me, the experience was different.

I didn't mind the voiceovers, but I also felt that they were tacked-on, and detached from the game. I felt like playing an abstract logic puzzle game which someone tried to overlay with a story that in no way connected with what I was doing in-game (and that wasn't very good, but rather "meh"). It felt very different to, say, Portal, where the gameplay and the story formed a coherent whole.

_After_ playing through the game, I read that the story had indeed been added afterwards, which confirmed the feeling that I had while playing.

That said, I believe that this was an enjoyable 3d puzzle game. The story and voiceovers certainly didn't do it any harm, despite being detached from the gameplay. But the main pull of the game (imho) is the gameplay, not the story.

You could write directly to the developers and ask them whether there is still a way to play the original and if not, why not. That would interest me, too, even though I already own both versions.