I'm playing a custom race, and during the first turn I'm designing a few ships such as a scout ship, with a specific layout.

If I go to use one of the Templates, such as the Fighter Template 1 (Yor ships), and then select to "use" it, it strips off all the "fluff" components in the top list that displays what components have been selected for the ship, but it doesn't visually remove the components on the display of the rotating ship.
If I then outfit this ship with engines and what not, save it and then go to the shipyard, I'll see the ship without all the fluff components on it.
If I then delete that ship, and design a new without using templates, and at the end name it the same as the previous ship, my new ship will end up looking like the first one.

Bottom line is, the Templates just doesn't work for me. Neither in beta 1 or 2.