I saw this same UI sometime last week. The biggest change for me was the lack of tabs that said "Search the Map," "Find Businesses," and "Get Directions." Without these I was rather lost, but luckily gMaps recognizes what you are searching for most of the time anyway.
The new look would take some getting used to, but I didn't really find any negatives with it in my brief experience. |
Funny, I never get to see these things, but I can see the new UI today. |
I must be in the small test group. I have been seeing this interface in FF for a week or two. However, much of the functionality I need has not been working in the new interface. For example, the "Add Destination" to the Driving Directions feature does not work, and sometimes the entire site was not working. I submitted feedback through the proper channels so hopefully they will iron out the bugs and get it working completely.
On the design side, I actually prefer the old format and don't feel that the new "cleaner" design adds anything to the experience. |
The cookie for the discussion board feature, turned the google maps redisgn on as well... javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF= ID=00fb173daf8671b1:TM= 1211773860:LM=1211774226:GM=1: S=iRC8su7T5V-q6T0t;path=/; domain=.google.com");
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