[ESS] .emacs file seems not fully operative since upgrade from 22.3 to 24.3

[Vitalie Spinu]

>>>> Christopher W Ryan <cryan at binghamton.edu>
>>>> on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:22:23 -0500 wrote:

  > On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Vincent Goulet
  > <vincent.goulet at dgfc.ulaval.ca> wrote:
  >> Chris, which version of my distribution for Emacs 23.3 were you using before upgrading?
  >> 
  >> Because, from the NEWS file:
  >> 
  >> Version 23.3-modified-3 (20 August 2011)
  >> ========================================
  >> 
  >> (MORE OR LESS) USER VISIBLE CHANGE
  >> 
  >> o File site-start.el renamed to default.el. Therefore, package loading
  >>  and Emacs configuration now happens *after* any user and site
  >>  configuration file is read. The distribution should now behave
  >>  better with users' settings. Thanks to Rodney Sparapani
  >>  <rsparapa at mcw.edu> and Stephen Eglen <S.J.Eglen at damtp.cam.ac.uk> for
  >>  pointers on this issue.
  >> 

I am probably missing something obvious here, but how does it behave better
if it overrides user's settings behind his back?