I was away from SL too, first time joined in 2008 and played since 2010, then i taken a short break, been away again, and now i am again around this awesome lands with a new avatar, i am two days old, like a newbie ) .
But i don't think the world has changed so much, of course are some improvements, like mesh etc. Oh and other thing, my friend list is empty, this is a change ).