Not sure. I've not been doing much with Beta1, have been awaiting Beta2 for more thorough testing. Up until this week I've been really short on time.
I would be interested in this too. This should be an Admin Option to activate "Watch this thread..." and "receive email notifications" for all Users uppon registration by default. Most Users that "fly by" and are not used to forum systems can be pulled back with such a feature because once in a while they get emails notifing them about their conversations. Can this be done via a Template edit?