CB 1.3 is mainly a technical release fixing bugs and adding a few minor features. You can see a list of feature tickets completed for CB 1.3 on our forge.

Implemented Features (17):
forge.joomlapolis.com/projects/cb/issues?set_filter=1&tracker_id=2

Fixed Bugs (46):
forge.joomlapolis.com/projects/cb/issues?set_filter=1&tracker_id=2

We'll be working full force on CB 2.0 for next years release which will feature many many upgrades to "state if the art" usage as you'd expect from a community site and extension.

..., and the "technical features" of CB will be leveraged in upcoming exciting CB 1.3 plugins comming shortly. GroupJive 2.0 being the next big thing here, with lots of new features for your members. Full rewrite. Stay tuned.

There is a huge difference that isn't always understood: CB is not an out-of-the-box facebook-clone. CB is a social framework. You build your own application by installing the suitable plugins (out of a choice of 200+ CB extensions available) and configuring it to suit the needs of Your Own Personal social site (or actually whatever type of site you make).

CB 2.0 is coming with a choice of preconfigured use-cases, but keeping the flexibility that CB has always had as a framework.

Btw, to answer the examples you list:

- CB does since 1.0 already "automatically orient" the avatars to match the square case.

- CB 1.3 + CBSubs 1.1 (even since a year in 1.0) allow you to have multiple profile types *today* (even without using the payments part).

CBSubs isn't free, but that's not the issue here