So far, my reaction to the new forum format is quite favorable, especially with the layout and readability: both are much improved.
What could be improved:
For me, at least, response time is much slower, both in paging and recalling messages.
Going to the next page is of the functions I use most frequently. It should be a large button instead of a tiny character. That button should also receive the focus (if you know what that means). For that matter, the page menu should also be duplicated at the top of the page.
BTW, I’m using the FF 1.0 browser.