Yep, I much prefer your stuff. Notwithstanding all the ET jibes Matt, it is very beautifully orchestrated. Craftsmans stuff.
As for style, I think one should stumble across it and find it rather than force it. For my part, I now always score a pair of Double Bass Pizz to provide texture and I do create something people recognise, particularly when they are syncopated in Allegro passages. Chord progressions however, seem to be the most distinctive element. Both Karl Jenkins and John Barry have very familiar, but very different 'signature' chord progressions (have a listen to Barry's Beyondness of things and Jenkins Adiemus album). The master howver, in my view is Beethoven. I've studied his scores and while I might be stupid, it's still not immediately obvious to me why I can spot his music in less than a couple of bars when listening to it (even if it's not obvious from the score). Ah, a master!