I'm actually surprised more people haven't checked the box:
[ ] Show most recent posts at the top.
I find it much easier to navigate because I only have to click the topic name and scoff at the people who post "^^ This"....
I don't do this because my years of newsgroup posting back in the day have trained me to read in a linear top-down fashion.
My personal pet peeve as a result, like your "^^ This" thing, is people (usually Rhett) who insist on top-posting on quotes. I would killfile someone who did that in the late 1990s without exception. Bad form.