this the scheme i came up with
http://i53.tinypic.com/311s6eh.jpg1. i used green/blue/brown/metalic colored parts so you can choose which theme works best for you. (i prefer less "glowy" theme)
2. got past the time frame i set for myself, so i didnt finish the options part and used icons instead (i was planing to leave it as is mins the the 'message options', should be in options).
3. the navigation moved to the bottom right corner, its great but in my opinion less precise/fast than working with the mouse.
the rest is pretty much the same.
EDIT:
side bar, naturally i prefer a side bar, since most monitors are or moving in the direction of 16:9 (so it keeps more working space for our globe) but there is not much you can fit in there, so as such its just a dead spaces for the most part.