If you don't want to see the profile updates them turn them off.. same with product reviews and wikis. If the little blue dot is lit up beside each one then it is on, if not then it is off.
On my home page, I
only see the threads and if feels just like what I was used to on the vBulletin site.
As far as chat, whose on chat is not on the forum YET but it will be soon. For not, you can save a bookmark to
Whose in Chat? and it will show you exactly who is in the chatroom before you even go there.
So no, it doesn't look like the old site and everything is not exactly the same but it is far from being in disarray.
I understand that some will not like it.. I knew that when I got ready to make the change and I weighed the good and the bad and decided that some folks aren't going to like change no matter what and we should not let that hold the site back from being all it can be.
I am here to help all of you transition and learn how to get where you are going and make this the best experience on the internet. The mods and other admins are all here for the same purpose as well.
If something is not working right, let someone help you learn how to make it work right for you.
Let me know if you need further help with getting rid of those pesky profile updates.. they can be sent into oblivion with a simple click.