In my dojo you are a white belt until you are a black belt. I kind of like it in the sense that rank is more modest. You just get a sense who is higher then who. At the same time, it is frustrating when need to talk to someone at a specific rank. You kind of have to hunt them out or know their last name to find their name on the rank board. When I took aikijitsu, I had ranks (white, yellow, green, purple, brown & black). It made it easier to see the hierarchy in the dojo and it helped motivate some people, but I also know that it caused jealousy and loss of humility as well. No reason for either of those.
Bottom line is, I don't really care either way. I just want to learn.