I'm sorry -- I didn't mean to depress you. I just meant there were some major jarring changes from 2nd to 3rd. You mentioned the disappearance of squats, however, there was also the addition of the Tau and the defining of the Necrons. I knew people who stopped playing over all three, though I think the fluff injected for the Necrons was the most disturbing at the time.
Edit: I don't really disagree with the above decisions by GW. I think they were all positive moves, however, they were really jarring to a number of players at the time.