This is just my take, but I think they are actually headed in the right direction. I think the older version was getting kind of cluttered. I think it's headed in a more organized direction.
I also think many people are also forgetting, this is pretty much the first draft of the new dashboard. With anything, it takes time to get users input, usability, ect.
I also think, I am using this software that is one of the best blogging programs around and it's free, so I can sure live with a couple little annoyances. Not to mention a huge community that pumps out pretty nice themes and plug-ins for free.
One thought I had recently about the admin/dashboard, to bad they couldn't turn it into like an ajax layout where you can set it up as you want. Drag and drop like you want it. Kinda like facebook.
Just rolling with the flow myself, it sure hasn't slowed down my blogging...
Funny, just the other day I read about one of the WP big wigs ripping up Movable Type (they started it). When I first was looking into blogging, WP and MT were some what neck and neck, that sure didn't last long.