Am I alone on this?

Although it does seem like a good idea.

Nope, you're not alone. I just tripped over it now.
And it's annoying.

For me it is especially annoying because I use the black background with the white print for looking at PW. The "topic preview" is shown with a white background and light grey print(virtually unreadable).Is this some glitch in the program?

VERY ANNOYING visually. It has the effect of shining a light in the reader's eyes.

Since only two lines are given it most often doesn't give any additional insight into what the the thread is about anyway.

I'd suggest that it be made optional. There should be a way to turn it OFF.

It's gone. Just like that, it's disapeard. I wish it were that easy with some posters on here.

Good job in leading the successful campaign to "kill the Topic Preview" Rod.