Yes, just tested this myself and works a treat (using sandbox).
The main difference is that Paypal Direct (or Paypal Pro (UK)) gives you a more integrated solution, so site customers enter their credit card information on your site, and the payment is processed in the background). I believe you also get Paypal express with this service and virtual terminal (process payments manually through the paypal manager.
I think the rates are pretty much the same as Paypal standard but you do need to pay a monthly charge with Direct/Pro.
support - other than the name differences (Direct/Pro) was their any differences in the API?
P.S. you will want SSL installed if using Direct/Pro
