Universal Progression
One feature new to 4th edition is the concept of all characters of every class using the same progression chart. What I mean by this is that regardless of your class, you get feats and abilities at the same time. The difference is that dependent upon your class you get to select from different abilities. The effort appears to be making the game streamlined.
To give an example of this for better clarity, envision the Sneak Attack ability and wizard spells. At first level in 3rd edition, a wizard got spell charges and the rogue got sneak attack (among other things). Now, each class gets at will, encounter, and daily powers. Of those, some are spells and one is sneak attack.
My instinct tells me that this change was once again unnecessary. It is again a move away from the traditional methods used in D&D where each class had its own chart.