It took me a while to see the reason behind it, but once I posted to a thread which was way out of date and I hadn't realised. Wiser now!

I noticed! And I don't like it either. I liked it when the date was separate from the poster's name. That way, I could look thru and find the thread I'd posted much easier!

Me, too!!

In the past, the timestamp of the first post was not displayed at all. It was only showing the time of the last post. Some people asked me to add the time of the first post to the listing, so now it's in the same column as the user name of the author.

I can flip the rows and put the author's name above the time of the first post. Maybe that will make it more convenient.

Some of those old post need to be dusted off and brought back out for knowledge and enjoyment. I am happy when I see them pop out. Some of them are invaluable.
First post/Last post just looks like a different title. The information in the columns doesn't seem to me to be different. I like it either way.

I hadn't until you pointed it out, but then I am relatively new. It is very helpful and I like it.