Twitter

Twitter has gone from asking me to try out the New Twitter to threatening that old Twitter is going to disappear "soon" (um...they can't give an actual date???)  and warning me that I should switch.  

All I've heard about the new Twitters is negative.   Does anyone have tips on how to make the transition as painless as possible?   Personally, I see no reason to change Twitter--it's doing what I need now, and I know how to use it in its present form, and I don't need to spend time learning how to use a hammer with a head on both ends, so to speak, which is what new! improved! software so often seems to be.  ("Look! We gave you a claw hammer on this end and a ballpeen hammer on the other and then there's this angled bit in the middle that's a tack hammer...")  

But since nonsensical, useless, unwanted change seems to be the fashion in software development (yes, I'm speaking to anyone involved in same--and keep in mind, *I* was once involved in same, so you won't get anywhere trying to guilt me as a technophobe)  I know when I'm being herded into yet another Learning Experience.   And so:  if you've been there, done that, and survived without going insane...please help me out.

What matters to me is a) keeping my "following" list intact, b) keeping an appearance I can stand (I uploaded an image to tile as background behind the text space and will want the same, or another of mine, in the new form.)   c)  as clean and uncluttered a text space as possible.   d) the same basic page layout.