Is 1.7 really that different in performance? What other benefits?

I have just re-started two test sites back to 1.6.1, as it seems plugins for 1.7 are off in the "indeterminate future". I was intially encouraged to dive in 1.7 by some, now many are telling me it could be months before we see a "site acess" an "elgg chat" a "profile manager" or any other one plugin we may need.

That's greatly beyond my control, but I seriously encourage everyone to get a thread opened to at least see who is upgrading what plugins.

By my calculations (just watching the reload time) 1.7 is blazing fast compared to 1.6.1. In fact, I get tired of playing with Tidy Pics in 1.6.1 in a few minutes, meaning I don't even like my own website! Now if I don't like it, what does that mean to my potential users? Tidy Pics seems to have real problems uploading blank photos in 1.6.1, not in 1.7!! Blazing fast and no blank boxes!

I have now had significant back to back comparisons of 1.6.1 and 1.7 on my PHP "loaded" server and I simply will not launch a 1.6.1 site as user ready for anyone with anything but DIAL UP speed!

Someone wake me up when there are plugins updated for 1.7!!!!!!!!!!