During testing I hated it. VB4's look was abbrasive and amateurish and I felt that one of the strengths of the old DP was how professional and aestheticly pleasing it looked. In contrast, every VB4 board I had seen and skin I had looked at looked as if it was something someone would slap together from a free message board software suite to host their twilight fan page from their basement. However, by the time of launch what Vauge and Hugh have been able to do with it is quite amazing as it is by far the best looking VB4 site I've seen. The color scheme, the layout, the little tweaks, all excellent.
Do I miss the old DP? Definitely, especially since I am stuck on IE6 a large part of my posting day and it is abysmal (through no fault of Vauge and Hugh). However, the visual downgrade at this point is relatively minor imho and is apt to continually improve.
On the flip side we have increased security abilities, likely helping to reduce the number of spammers and socks popping up not to mention general closing of security loopholes. While not having happened to DP, I've seen what can happen to sites with disgruntled script kiddies who decide to get a bit fiesty. I'm fine with a better safe than sorry attitude.
The blogs section could be extremely interesting and while initially (from a mod stand point) I was a bit leery and thinking of "what's the point" I've come to see the potential for some fun with it. Combined with some of the "click to digg" options and other things it could be a nice way for an aspiring blogger to maybe get some insight out there while also getting traffic for the site and new possible posters, which is always fun. I also think at times it'll be neat to read blogs from people who have interesting takes on certain topics that are geared more towards making a statement than asking a question or putting out a controversial thought that is more common for a thread. Imagine a "Cooking with the Rev" blog with him sharing his recipes and cooking tips, allowing them to be easily found and cataloged and looked back on without searching through a 1000 post thread. Or if Lex's posts concerning his successful run at weight loss could've been archieved as such to truly see the results. Or from the political side reading posters whose views perhaps match, oppose, or are different than you simply stating their thought on something. I think back to the BareKnucklePundit and how interesting his take was, even when I may not agree. Usually intriguing, but wrote in such a way that wouldn't make for great jumping off conversation IN thread but still was wonderful to read. I see those things making the blogs worth while.
CMS I'm unsure of and will have to see as it comes. However it has the potential to make DP not simply a message board but an info hub. Yahoo News, ESPN, Engadget, and BBC wrapped up into one neat little package as you're able to find the various news stories of the day in the sectors you want from the CMS screen of DP rather than having to pop into various other websites.
And just general support. Like so much technology that has a longs standing older version, when it first comes out of beta there's often a fair bit of lag time and people cling to the old and familiar. Yet as time goes on not only do people migrate over and old features get updated, but the enhanced features of the software allow for tweaks and additions previously never thought of.
Things like the Arcade, finding your thanked posts, etc of the old DP are things I don't think we'll never see again...it'll just take some time. I see VB4 as a weird mix. Its a step back from where DP was, but at the same time its a step back onto a whole different foundation. And while that foundation's bottom is below the absolute ceiling of the old DP, its starting from a far higher ground than that old version did originally and the cieling for it I believe far exceeds what was previously there. By adopting early we can be on the cutting edge as those new additions come in, our techs can become familiar with the software, and by the time everyone else is switching over and learning it we're going to have a website that looks amazing in comparison.
In just a little under a weeks time its grown on me greatly, and I imagine a month from now I won't even think of the differences 99% of the time.