I kinda agree on this part but its mostly due to the fact im struggling in giving my own character equipment or anything else.
My other reason i liked the old one was that you could make your npc's happier easily. The new one they easily hates your guts very quickly, and i have no idea why.
I get the idea is to make you able to interact with your followers, but right now it seems like that they way too quickly just get pissed at you, regardless on how often you talk to them.