Well, in the old versions the carriers had to have a big maintenance penalty in order to keep them fair.
It was also a bit odd with the small-ship reactor mounts and the fact that fighter bays were only usable on carriers.
Now, carriers are regular ships, with a modest size bonus in exchange for the dedicated fighter/cargo stuff. The physics are now consistent, and it is even possible to put small fighter bays on all your warships, B5 style.
Theoretically, its an improvement. It is certainly a change in the atmosphere. Whether it is a practical improvement or not will be determined by the newly started PBW games.
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As to the fighters, they have not changed in utility... the difference is in how you get them to combat in deep space.
The carriers are certainly smaller... but with the lower maintenance, you should actually be able to afford to bring more fighters into battle...
Plus, there is the ability to build fighter bays into your orbital platforms, and perhaps even a small set of fighters in your heavy satellites.
Fighters will be able to pop up everywhere