for the most part the new features seem to be beneficial, however I'm not so sure about the quick arrows and the notepad in the profile. Simply because I never use either. I mean, I cannot envisage a situation that merits getting to the top of the page so quickly. However that's just me I guess.
Also with the notepad, I also don't really have anything in particular going on that requires me to write it down in a forum profile. Though I guess it's more useful for staff members who have things regarding the forum they may want to document. But for lesser members you'll find stuff like this:
just not very useful or productive :p
I don't think they really need to go, just that there should be an on-off switch or something. Options are coolio.