I do hope you’re wrong re: 2010! [Although standard WP does have the benefit of not forcing so much presentation / content on your design – most of it being dealt with in the theme]
We have two clients for whom the layout / content of the activity stream is absolutely critical – we’ve been through many many design revisions (down to the pixel level!) to get it right for them. These things are important.
WP also gives a clear warning over functions being deprecated, with advice well in advance as to alternatives to use.
