Just an observastion, but in the form of a question it would be, why are tabs and spaces the only special characters that cannot be configured, especially when they were configurable in the past?
The 2008 version lets me to do everything you mention, but I can also pick my own graphical elements for tabs and spaces, just like the other special characters. You didn't really "replace" anything, you just removed the ability to configure tabs and spaces. It's ironic you called the current tab an "arrow" because in my 2008 version I have my tabs configured to show the actual arrow character.
"Looks much better" is in the eye of the beholder.