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Looks the same to me?
Yeah. Same here as well. Google-esque slow roll?
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Well, then, looks like they may be testing a new theme. Mine looks like this when I'm logged in: http://d.pr/hYJe and http://d.pr/TlLA. Menus are redesigned, fonts look larger throughout much of the interface. But, I just opened it in a new Incognito window without logging in, and it looks the same as always: http://d.pr/aY1R. Here's to hoping they keep the new theme!
Interesting to see that they have dropped most of the blue/orange color shades which has been synonymous with the brand. Definitely, this is a welcome change and the site looks better.
Looks like work-in-progress. Their HTML is a mess, and the homepage doesn't even have a title tag.
Amazing how little that matters when you're making billions of dollars.
screenshot for those who can't see it: http://i.imgur.com/KMcfc.png

the left hand menus are mouse-driven hover menus (how 1997!)

edit: ugh, and you actually have to click the text - clicking the white background near the text doesn't work. I hate it when menus do that!

edit2: another screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/e58gx.png

ul.nav li a { float: left; line-height: 20px; padding: 0 10px; }
ninjas { visibility: hidden; }
Also, being hover driven, you have to carefully stay on the hovered item and horizontally move to the pop-out menu instead of moving diagonally. Kind of infuriating, to be honest.
Strangely, I like the Barnes & Noble and Wal-Mart sites better...how did this happen?

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

http://www.walmart.com

Perhaps because they're simpler. You'd expect that to work better if the test is how nice a site looks rather than how well it converts.
I could not find a proof but I remember reading that they tried to simplify site a number of times but these changes lead to reduced revenue.
Amazon does so much A/B testing that I've grown accustomed to it never looking the same between visits.
I bet that the next time I go on Amazon, the pages I visit will still consist mostly of what are essentially advertisements whose main effect is to distract me from my reason for going on the site, and I bet that information I consider very relevant, like the year of of the publication of a book, will still be very hard to find amidst the visual clutter.
> distract me from...

Funny: I do so much research on Amz that I am accustomed to zeroing in on just info I really want - with the result that I can browse for months without noting new features (treasure chest buttons, etc).

I like it, a well needed refresh. Wonder when its going to make its way to amazon.co.uk
This whole white theme might come from the same team that make new imdb.com re-design.

For me it is too white, as with the imdb, the eye cannot distinguish items easily because it does not hang to visual elements.