In reply to John Teague.

Well, maybe it is my english, but "cover the non-backwards compatible changes" for me means to supply equivalent type of functionality, and a text area is light years away from a WYSIWYG editor.

Since the new editor is (poor decision IMO) inserting formatting into the content, there will not even be compatibility between such a solution and the new editor, therefor someone that works in a "textarea mode" will produce something that will not be editable by others and wise versa....

The way the new editor is built is a one way thing. people that will not be able to use it will not be able to collaborate with anyone that wish to use it, and no amount of plugin coding will change that.

(as implied I don't like the direction this is going at all, but those are the implications of what is being built)