Is there a way to restore the earlier color-coding format?

Question

If there is a workaround to restore the earlier color-tag format, I would love to know it.
In the alternative, I've submitted the following to Apple and wanted to share it with the community also, in case there is no workaround and others would like to add their voice in addressing the issue:
The new single-dot color coding of tags in Mavericks doesn't work for me AT ALL.
I have been relying on Apple's full-width color coding for quite some time because it could help me easily discern—at a glance—different file versions, project statuses, and other workflow particulars—without having to read the filenames' text.  In other words, it's been a convenient right-brain workflow.
The key here, of course, is the idea of "easily" and "at a glance."  The new Mavericks color coding both extends and confounds my workflow—I now must do an additional visual search of any given list of files, especially because my filenames are often long (informational) and their middle section (in the column view) is likely truncated to conform to Apple's default narrow column formatting.
The purpose and point of color coding is to reduce time and complexity and aid organization.  However, the Mavericks version now requires (1) doing a visual scan of an entire column of filenames, instead of a visual "grab" of whole bands of color without any need to read the filenames, (2) locating the color dots at the ends of those column lines and making sure they correlate with the proper text (left-brain/right-brain work instead of just staying right-brain), (3) making a color comparison of extremely small fields of color (tiny dots instead of full-wide bands), and (4) implementing a visual/mental check step to ascertain that that a particular color dot is the correct one. Because of the added confusion of having to do "manual" left-to-right visual placement, it becomes necessary to add the step of expanding the filenames (column widths) to get certainty.
I'm guessing that at this early point in the Mavericks proliferation you'll likely want to dig your heels in to defend and preserve all the involved and extensive work you did to produce the update, but I strongly urge you to revisit the particular design decision mentioned here.  It makes it tougher for us out here using the program, and it works against your PR efforts:  I'm now less likely to trust your design decisions and will be much less likely to implement future updates or champion them.
If I could uninstall Mavericks and get my previous version back, just for this one item alone, I would. It's been a mainstay feature for me, and one of the things I've lauded to non-Mac users to encourage them to venture Apple.

Answer 1

Downgrade Mavericks to Your Previous System
For Lion or Mountain Lion
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to a Mountain Lion Installer app or USB flash drive installer:
   Partition and Format the hard drive
      1. Select the target volume you wish to use.
      2. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu in the menubar.
      3. In Disk Utility select the target volume from the left side list. Click on the
          Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window. Set the Partition Scheme to one
          (1) from the drop down menu. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended,
          Journaled. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
          Quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu. Quit the Main Menu to return to
          the installer.
Install Lion/Mountain Lion: Select install Lion or Mountain Lion and click on the Install button. .
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
For Snow Leopard or Earlier
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups made while on Snow Leopard, then you may do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.  If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion/Mountain Lion files.