I know many people are frustrated with the new iGoogle layout, which they conveniently don't let you change.
Personally, I'm indifferent about it, there are things I like better in both the old and the new layout.
Here is a quick hack to get your old iGoogle layout back:
Place this url in the address bar: http://www.google.com/ig?gl=all now save the page as your home page.
Now everytime you open a new window you should see the old layout. If you want to switch back to the new iGoogle layout, just change your homepage back to http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en