When to use LM317 vs LM2941CT?
You've highlighted most of the details, but forgot the one big difference: the LM2941C is a LDO (Low DropOut) regulator. It uses a PNP as its main transistor, instead of a traditional NPN. So the droput voltage (voltage difference required between input and output) is 0.5V max, which is way better than the 2-2.5V of LM317.

And, by the way, this is why the ESR of the output capacitor then becomes important.

Now, a few other differences:


LM2941C input/output voltages capabilities are lower than for LM317 (you certainly noticed, but you didn't mention it). Moreover, the "floating" topology of the LM317 actually allows you to regulate voltage supplies as high as you want, provided that you don't exceed the maximum voltage difference between input and output (this is detailed in the datasheet). The topology of the LM2941 doesn't allow this.
current capabilities are lower as well (1A vs 1.5A)
quiescent current (current wasted through ADJ or GND pin) is way higher for LM2941C (10-30mA vs 50µA), so it won't be appropriate for low-power designs running on batteries.