I thought this walking animation comparison was interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKCerijbsW8
The trailer had such quick cuts that it was hard to get a good idea of the animations. From what I can tell I'd say it's a big improvement over Oblivion. But the big question is can we finally walk diagonally?
I finally took the time to read most of the previews. They were overwhelmingly positive, which I suppose is common for previews, but I was expecting more criticism. Only real complaints I came across were that the melee combat seemed really similar to Oblivion and a NPC gave a weak reaction to his buddy being stealthily killed with an arrow. As great as Skyrim seems, I fully expect a lot of the same problems from Oblivion, Fallout 3, & Morrowind to carry over. But then again, they've already proved something I thought impossible for Bethesda - the art direction of those character models looks fantastic!
I also noticed that in the Q&A Todd Howard seemed to give a lot of answers similar to "We're still messing around with it." in regards to mounts, town economy, & other things. I know they still have 7 months, but it seems like they should know these things by now. I suppose he's just being careful not to promise things that might get cut.
Overall I'm very satisfied with what I'm hearing. Losing attributes does not matter to me. Losing birth signs is a bit of a bummer, but more for novelty reasons rather than them having any real impact on the game. I'd much rather have perks than either of those. I'm really looking forward to this and have been replaying Oblivion in anticipation. I plan on replaying Morrowind this summer. Long live Elder Scrolls!