After reading the new 1.3 guide (with all the changes and differences from 1.2) for meteor I couldn’t but wonder why was the current release given version number 1.3. Maybe it should have been 2.0? Would make you try harder to understand how to build meteor 1.3 applications where having background in meteor 1.2 doesn’t really help much.
BIG SMILEY HERE 
Given the major changes in the architecture, I agree with you.
Full support for NPM modules
Game changer for package ecosystem.
ES6 modules support
Another game changer.
Data subscription with React
Mixins or Mantra or whatever… it’s the next level in React integration.
Probably, these changes will also be the basis for the integration of the upcoming Angular 2.0.