I wait for new Emacs versions like I waited for Christmas when I was a small kid. And I don't peek into the development branches, I want to take time and enjoy the changes upon the release of the next major version.<p>Each new Emacs version shows little on the surface which you might expect from a software suite that has had everything and the kitchen sink since the 90's, but in the inside there's an ongoing morphosis into something greater, that quietly reveals itself version by version if only you take the time to study not only what's new but <i>how</i> the new things work. Then suddenly, say, five years later, a new usage paradigm emerges seemingly out of nothing eventhough Emacs has had the bits and pieces in for many revisions already. This is just fascinating. For example, the various completion subroutines have slowly converged into a more solid, generic completion subsystem. And best of all, you have the source code to play with.<p>If Emacs is nearly an operating system then it's kind of nearly a software Lisp machine.