I doubt we will see 1.8 before february 
And yes,i want automation (at least for volume)so badly,i can’t tell ya 
BUT there are still some heavy bugs and i think it will be better to fix them first.And i really hope it includes some of the problems i experience ("timeshifting"audiofiles,dozens of unwanted Midi routing popups,senseless Solo/Mute behaviour,Midi clock quirks etc.) otherwise i’ll come back quickly and rant for the missing automation again