Thanks for this Justin (good to see you writing for WP Tavern, if I haven't mentioned before).

Way back in WordPress 2.x there used to be a note on the Page admin screen, pointing out how awkward it was to reorder Pages, but that a fix would be coming. The note got removed but the awkwardness remains, unless you use a third-party drag-and-drop solution.

It's the "WordPress Way". Full steam ahead, let enthusiasts and plugin developers fix the problems created along the way (see also 'special characters'). I'd like to see a few of the 6,500 outstanding Trac items fixed as well, that's a ridiculously high number, but I won't be holding my breath for a major effort for version 6 (rhymes with 'fix').