If you read between the lines its quite apparent that they rushed 1.8 out the door for whatever reason, maybe deadlines had come and gone and it was time. There are so many obvious bugs in 1.8 that there is no way anyone tested this for any reasonable length of time, things like the altimeter bug, settings resetting bug, lights missing on some parts, aero/thermo bug for anyone who plays spaceplanes (i think nobody in squad does, sadly) would be impossible to miss if there was any testing. That is why i think they just polished the cool new parts and textures and started working on the issues after launch. There will be a hotfix and a hotfix for the hotfix, 1.4 all over again.
Just my thoughts on the matter, and also why i rarely ever play the current version.