Why is this guy so confused? (or: "this doesn't /look/ like Kansas")

please consider this a LOW-PRIORITY, yet quite simple inquiry
(albeit, with extended explanation):

QUERY:
Has Launchpad, the site; the community web application entirely, changed in appearance and/or functionality at some point between 2008-02-02 and present day, Monday, August 11, 2008? It seems to me that, at least, something of the style (e.g. CSS, and functional Logistics of the UI) has changed since my last visit. This may be regarded by the reader as mere curiosity, warranting little detail in reply, however if I've missed something major, I'd like to educate myself by reading any relevant announcements.

Thank you. :-)

(END INQUIRY)

I beg your pardon, that my issue here may be sympathised for a somewhat atypical situation-- as i wish to be a contributing User, not a fair-weather friend to the Community. Indeed, to proclaim his wish to be proactively involved; to help in Answering, and likewise receive assistance in times of his own confusion, a User should thusly maintain consistent activity in his areas of interest, if he so wishes to be as an asset to the whole.

I understand that I have not been consistent, so please allow me to elaborate on why there is a conspicuous timespan of inactivity on my account (which may be the primary reason for my confusion about membership, and participation here at Launchpad). Forgive my verbosity-- but it is in so many words that I shall attempt to render for the reader, a more accurate sense of my own character.

When I first created a user account here, and began activity it was at the time of the Ubuntu "Hardy" beta. I had some issues w/ my attempt to upgrade and, already inspired by my fascination with "Ubuntu", finally created a user for Launchpad, despite having installed the OS v.7 several weeks prior. With a certain business crisis bearing upon me, and sudden HDD failure of my XP system-- resulting in the building of a new PC (platform intel P4 x86 - vs my previous-- AMD x86_64), obligatory fresh install of XP for hardware requirement (first experience using SATA technology HDD), and the aforementioned Xubuntu upgrade malfunctioning