Thanks Raymond. As an 'outsider' I rely on people like you to provide feedback based on your experience to some of the proposals I'm floating here. 

On a more specific note... 

This one came about mainly as I was looking at the class (module) browser. I thought it a bit limited/clunky, which as Terry noted has been brought up before. I noticed many editors/IDEs do a status bar thing showing current class and/or function, often as a gateway to navigating through the structure. I've found it a convenient and compact navigational cue/tool. I've also seen this used in addition to or in conjunction with a sidebar showing the file structure, highlighting current location. 

I've admittedly only briefly tried Code Context (and personally based on that limited experience didn't find it particularly helpful, and somewhat visually disruptive), and the mention here was almost an afterthought (since the status bar thing does provide a coarse level of context). I'd actually be curious to see how other editors/IDEs implement the same sort of feature as there may be some nice tweaks to steal - do you have any pointers?

Again, I greatly appreciate the feedback. In regards to your comment on "too many sweeping change proposals" I'd certainly like to hear any suggestions you may have around process, general concerns, etc.  Thanks again.