Well so far so good. I downloaded the New Xbox Experience last night (all in all there isn't much choice). I was a bit apprehensive with NT 4.0 SP5 flashbacks coming to mind. But it downloaded fairly quickly in maybe 3 minutes or so on my 5Mb FIOS service and a few minutes to install.
I setup my little Mii with legs avatar and went about figuring out the new layout. I did not find anything really that much better albeit the layout is different than the blades. There is a bit more scrolling than before going up and down through the main menu and then left and right through the various menu choices. I did like the way the Achievements are laid out now, you can continuously scroll through the whole list rather than down to the end and back up again. I personally like to be able to loop through lists like that.
Other than that you will notice that pretty much every window has a new look but all the same stuff is there. Can’t complain, it is a nice graphical upgrade.