shesboxingclever on "Changes in WP-admin bar?"

My apologies if my questions have been addressed somewhere already, but I've looked and cannot find the answers.
After being absent from WP for just over a month, I've returned to find changes to the wp admin bar that make my experience a little difficult. The links in the dropdown menus no longer take me to what's most important in my WP surfing. There is no longer a direct link to the WP homepage, which I used frequently. I now find myself having to scroll around on whatever page I'm reading, until I find a link to WP.com. Secondly, where has the ability to search blogs gone? I'm not referring to the tag search, I'm asking specifically about the search box that used to be in the admin bar. Why is this no longer available, and what are my options now? (Please don't suggest using the tag search, because this does not accomplish what I used to be able to accomplish with the blog search box.)