Meni,

Thank you for very eloquently saying what I feel like I've been thinking for a long time.

If a compromise that looked anything like what you've described were to be put forward as the new reference client, I'd be happy to join you in trumpeting its cause and encouraging its use.  Doesn't matter to me if it was presented by Core, Unlimited, or some third party (perhaps you and I should fork the github repository and see what we can do with it).