I preffered the old design, probably because ive been here since the start and im used to it. Like pete said, its all squashed. At the top, there is no real need for 2 logout buttons, next to each other.
Sorry for being a grump, but i liked the old colours, they made it completely unique.
Suggestions:
Moving the control panel to the hompage only, at the top.
Making posts fill the whole page.
Making peoples username bigger. They are too small and not really dominent.
Keeping the little green light that shows if users are logged on or not. That was a sweet little thing.
Getting rid of the bloody ad's for registered users. So annoying!
Where has the 'THE' gone from the logo, now its just whoesale forums?
The search box is a nice idea, but would look better in a different place.
Apart from that, its a needed change, but im still unsure about some things, rant over, sorry.
Matt