Is it not possible to just create a folder, call it Public and then set share-options to "everyone with the link" or something like that to get the feature back?
AFAIK you still won't get direct file links this way - only links to a landing page, from which you still have to initiate the download. Being able to get a direct link to file (the kind that works with e.g. wget, or as a src attribute of an <img> tag) was the most useful feature of the Public folder.