Admin Panel – Plugins for 2.6 not working

I recently installed WordPress 2.6.2 and my default doesn’t appear to be correct, it is a plain white background with just straight text and hyperlinked text.

I have installed numerous plugins to modify the admin panel in the following location (including fluency – compatible w/ WP2.6):
wp-content/plugins/

The plugins become available under the Admin panel to install, and can be actived. Once activated they display as activated but the Plugin menu still displays 0 and the admin panel is still plain.

a) should the default admin panel be something other that plain text?
b) does anyone have any suggestions for getting the admin plugin to function properly?

Thank you.