I'm pretty happy with the patch overall, and haven't noticed the starting position bug myself. It's not perfect, but a marked improvement over what we had through the summer. I've found the religious game is much easier to manage--although it can still use a bit of work, at least it's not seizure inducing when it switches back and forth. I'm still getting the "exit to desktop" freeze, for what it's worth.
I'm getting used to the new diplo screen, so not sure what to say yet...
Finally, and the ONE thing that really stands out as ruining the diplomatic part of the game: The "occupy city" penalty that NEVER goes away after hundreds of turns, and thousands of years...really, it's probably the biggest problem of the diplomatic aspect of the game. The only solution, barring a completely peaceful game (which is nearly impossible on higher levels) is to completely annihilate your enemy. Leave even one city, and he will hate you for the rest of the game, and his allies will, too, and it will always come back to bite you. It never reduces from its initial value. The alternative is to commit genocide, and everyone eventually forgets as your warmongering penalty drops over time...
I know this last bit is a bit off topic, but since they seem to have spent time on the diplomatic aspect of the game this time around, I thought it might have been fixed...
There's another solution. Take the cities you want + 1 and return that extra one in a peace deal. That'll remove the 'occupy city' penalty. Also I think others suggested that even settling a rubbish city and giving it to them will remove the penalty, but I haven't tested that myself.