yes SMF may be delayed but what you expect as long as you don't pay a single dime for it ?
if you're really on the cheap why not considering using a nulled copy of VB or IPB instead of whining here ?
I heard this excuse about 10 times. No problem by my side.
it's not an excuse, it's the real situation.
people is getting used to have it all for free and they complain too if you don't give 'em fixes and patches and support and next they'll ask you also for a beer or a coffee.
so in short they want a bug free forum full of mods and features, they plan on making money with it, and they come here ranting and raving while giving nothing back not even one single f-ucking euro to the developers.
VB and IPB are pretty happy of dealing with paying customers while leaving the crooks on SMF, phpBB, etc
SMF is free, and if it takes 5 years to get the 2.0 so be it ... you get what you pay for ... you nothing therefore you wait.
and dont joke yourself ... after 2.0 there will be a plethora of patches and bugfixes so a final and rock solid 2.0 is very far at the horizon unless proven otherwise.
if you're serious on your business stay away from free open source cms and forums.
the house must be built on the rocks not on the sand.