Coming from PMUA, I am very pleased with the new UA nee old CO website. It is very functional and does way more things like multi-city itineraries, award searches and bookings, and especially flight changes and viewing seat maps, upgrade lists, and "where is my aircraft coming from?". I could not care less how fugly it is or whether the backend is powered by SHARES. PMUA's website was quite elegant on appearance, but it was crap in terms of functionality.
When the new UA website rolls out later this year, I hope style won't come at the expense of substance.