The old one wasn't broken so why fix it.
I'll keep using it as it's the best/most reliable news site by far but the new layout is'nt an improvement
The old one lacked a fundemental point... the ability to see news that wasn't on the home page and wasn't known to the reader.
I get the "BBC Breaking News Alert" emails, which all just say "blah blah blah. For more details:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news ". If it's a matter of interest I then have to spend ages looking for that item if it isn't on the homepage (why can't the alert email have a direct link?).
For all other news though, all you see is the headlines on the homepage. If an article isn't linked from there you can't read it, unless you already know about it from another source.
I hope the new site will be more usable than the old. (And like Hellymedic it's giving me a headache to read the new pale text)