with the latest patch, there is a new change many of you may have seen -

+ healing now gives an extra +33% SPELLDAMAGE bonus. This goes for most items & enchants.

so, if you have a mace that is +33 healing spels and effects, it now ALSO gives you +11 spell damage. free.

you will be seeing more resto and balance druids now staying in NE form because of that; they will alternate damage and healing spells, and do so more effectively.

It is still best to look for spellleather, but you can now (more safely) mix in cloth pieces.

the second big change is now you can change between forms without a transit form. This is hard to explain -

ex. : I can start out in kitty, stealth, sneak up on a mob, and start casting cyclone, hibernate, starfire, etc. you will AUTO change to the correct form. Same goes for being in Moonkin or Tree of life, and clicking a feral attack button - you will auto-change to the correct form, as long as you have mana.

This is a HUGE change for PvP, raids, instanceing, and soloing. Experiment with it!