@modemlooper – Clearly I think design is an issue, or I wouldn’t have worked to improve it. Who said I don’t? Don’t put words in my mouth, and don’t assume because I’m a developer that I don’t care about design. I wouldn’t treat you that way, and I’d appreciate the same respect.
The whole format wasn’t “dropped” because we’ve already committed ourselves to supporting the activity streams and plugin groups. Clearly dropping that functionality isn’t an option.
If you don’t like it, work with me to improve it. Come up with some mock-ups and channel your enthusiasm into something positive rather than something critical.