Facebook has gone a long way since its first days as a social networking site, and that includes design as well. Starting Wednesday, like it or not, Facebook will make some permanent interface changes, forcing 100 million users to embrace their new interface.

Well, it’s not as if nobody expected it! Facebook first rolled out the new design ideas for a limited number of users. The new design, which has been under development since the beginning of the year, was intended to offer an alternative to a very clustered interface, and to offer users more control over their own profiles.

In July this year, the social networking site extended the availability of the new interface to a larger number of users, and granted them a couple of months of going back and forth between the old and the new design.

However, Facebook recently revealed that, starting today, the new design will become permanent. “Facebook’s new design makes it a lot easier for users to share information, and we encourage them to check it out,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in July.

With the new design, Facebook brought the Wall to the front, providing users with a forum to post comments, photos and videos on, as well as content from third-party applications, giving them a better control over the stories they put on their profiles.

Furthermore, the navigation is far easier now, thanks to the new tab system, which includes a Wall tab, an Info tab, and a Boxes tab; in addition to that, users can add tabs of their own.

According to Facebook, the new design is all about the users, giving them a better way to control their profile, and better privacy options than before. Users can now limit access to their profile information, as well as put any information they want on their profile, from contacts, to photos, interests and much more.

The first reactions to the change were positive ones, with developers congratulating Facebook for bringing a new, more dynamic interface that is not constricted as the old one and allows more room for breathing. Most users trying the interface for the first time decided to fully embrace it, without returning to the old interface.