As the other comment mentioned, the UI is much better nowadays, especially with 2.8. I actually find it more intuitive than others like Cinema4D, Maya, and Houdini, whereas it was the opposite previously.
I used blender a bunch in 2.5 era and then coming back to it in 2.8 - can't say I'm a fan - old UI sucked discovery wise but it was streamlined, new UI is too clicky - but I've only did a few basic things
Spacebar -> type command name -> do anything from the keyboard
By default, spacebar now play/pauses the timeline, and search moved to f3
I found a bit of a learning curve with 2.8's input too, but I'm kind of okay with the tradeoff for newfound enthusiasm the program has with professional users.
Sounds like they made some significant workflow breaking changes in 2.8. How'd the community react when they rolled out the changes?