The new Google Reader, although pretty much the same as before on the inside, received a few updates mostly in matters regarding its look and function reorganizing. The old colors are gone, as are the shadows on the menus, which made for a rougher navigation. Now, everything is squared out, and the whole thing moves a lot faster than it did before.
 

"Out with the old rounded corners, drop shadows and heavily saturated colors – in with a softer palette, faster components and a fresh new look," says Jenna Bilotta, on Google Reader's official blog. "We've removed some visual clutter, simplified some features and given everything a bit more breathing room."
 

A good thing about the update is that the "collapsible" feature was extended to virtually all sections in the navigation pane, which makes it a lot easier for users to hide those sections that are of little interest to them. Each of the above mentioned sections can be reduced to a single line, so people can keep an eye on what truly matters.
 

An important feature, and one that was met with satisfaction, is the added possibility of hiding the unread thread count, which relieves some of the stress people working with the Reader undergo each day. "We've added the ability to turn off unread counts for each section of navigation independently. Subscriptions with unread items will still appear as bold, and you can see the number of unread items if you hold your mouse over the subscription name," says Bilotta.
 

Although the new interface brings some improvements to the basic Reader, in its quest for fluidity in navigation, Google left out a very important thing, which is the color mix. Before the changes were implemented, one could easily see what feed was read and which was not, but now, there is very little difference in the markings on these posts. This makes browsing the whole Reader a bit cumbersome, though it might just be a matter of getting accustomed to the new design.