Second Life's "Improved" Newbie Experience

I keep trying Second Life every now and then (every now and then, being, oh, once every 6-12 months), and keep finding I'm not able to get into it for quite a few reasons. The excessively clunky interface. The fact that interaction is so stilted. How I walk like something out of Pet Sematary...

I keep wanting to like SL, because it seems that once you get past the initial clunk, there's so much fun to be had creating skins, models, textures and whatnot. But each time I try, I'm slapped in the face with a host of problems that I lack the perseverance to... persevere through.

This time seems to be no different.

Just as I was remarking that they'd certainly improved the newbie experience vastly, from the last time I signed in as a newbie.. (my email supports aliases, so I keep making newbies), this ... interesting screenie happens.

Before I'd said it, I was at least looking like a freshly dead zombie in an alien spaceship, as opposed to, a long-dead zombie in a world of flat planes.

And then of course, the moment I remarked upon this improvement - boom! That screenshot over there. Kinda figures. XD