Photoshop :: Ruler Function Change In CS6

In CS4, I could crop a larger picture to a size such as 9"x12" without actually resizing it, just eliminating the unwanted areas. It seems this is no longer possible as now when cropping, the positions on the rulers are not marked as I determine the crop size.  So I can set the size to be 9x12, and whatever crops will expand to that, I assume with interpolated pixels and possible detail loss. 
 
If unconstrained is used, then you don't know what the size will be till the crop is done and it realigns with the rulers.

Before, I could either enter the numbers, such as 6"  8" 300dpi, if I wanted to enlarge a smaller image, as I still can do now. But also, with CS4, I  had made a preset with no numbers, similar to unconstrained, but with the positions showing on the rulers, so I could draw to whatever size I wanted, within a larger image, so when a crop was made, area was removed but there was no re figuring of the size.  This is more like cutting out a picture on paper, while now it seems only a stretching of the area can be done.