They changed the covers and reorganized the books in the middle of 2nd Ed., too. It was no big deal, as the rules basically stayed the same (excepting "additions" like HLAs, other ways of doing magic, and the insanely detailed dueling fighting system). I continued to DM, even at Cons, with the old cover books and it went just fine. Hey, you don't toss books signed by Easley just because the new cover comes out.
Anywho, my recommendation, after playing 3rd Ed. (and buying several books), is burn all your 3rd Ed. books, and go play 2nd Ed., which was much better anyway.
