IIRC the blue and orange colour scheme of 1.x was done intentionally to look readable on the intended displays at the time, meaning televisions and monitors, both colour and black-and-white. Lots of users didn't have the luxury of a monitor back then and just used a TV set.
Personally I like both the 1.x and 2.x/3.x looks. I remember drooling over the 2.x "3D" look when I saw the first screenshots in CU Amiga and Amiga Format in the early 90's. Nowadays I tend to have a more nostalgic feeling towards the 1.x look with its cheerful colour scheme and the horizontal stripes in the bar at the top of the windows. Nostalgia...
EDIT: @Karlos, yes the 2.x Topaz font looks very nice compared to its Serif brother of 1.x. I always hated the interlaced modes. Not so much because of the flickering, but because everything looked 'squashed'.
