I've noticed a speed boost, which is mainly due to PHP I assume, but either way, faster site is always a good thing!

Things to change in the future:

 Remove "Dashboard" it's pointless. Move the little things that's unique to the main page or "My Profile"

 Add "Drafts" link to the right column on the blog page. I have to actually hunt for this as it is, unless I use dashboard, which again, is pointless.

Change log here:

http://www.oxwall.org/1.7.3/CHANGELOG.txt

i 100% agree with the dashboard being removed however i think in the customize index page settings there should be an option to make that newsfeed friends and following only