The forum upgrade has been discussed many times, and I think WDZ is testing it on and off in another place, and trying to move stuff over. But he has coded this forum a lot, and it's probably very personal to him to be honest
.. As he's put a lot into it (his own spare time)
I'm sure the new design will be done once Messenger Plus! Live is actually out.
Same as above about the threads, chances are it will stay open for a while, as Messenger Plus! still has a version for 7.5, and chances are people will be using that for months after MP!L has been released.
