Mass Effect 2 Forum

So they've said that your character from ME1 can carry over, but is there any way to change them in the new game, if by the end of the first you decided there was something you didn't like about them? Can you turn them into a different class or alter their appearance, or do you just have to start all over? 
 
They also say your choices from the first affect this one as well (  SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.) If you don't use your old person, does that mean you can set up what choices your new guy made (like with the background option in the first)? Or do new characters just get a set universe to play in?

From what I've read on the Bioware forums, everything you did in ME1 is set in stone.  You can go back and do a second playthrough with your same character, and have that playthrough's decisions transfer to ME2, but you cannot "flip a switch" and redo any of your choices.
 
If you choose to not carry over your save, you will create a new character.  During the character creation, the game will ask you questions about your character's past (just like in ME1, although I'm sure it will be more in-depth this time around), and those answers will auto-select the major choices in the first game for you.  
 
For example (ME1 spoilers ahead):