I think the problem is a lot of people just have axes to grind, and honestly don't care if Shadowrun improves so much as wanting CGL to suffer and possibly go out of business.
And that would be the end of SR. No company would pick up a game with that kin of problems, fearing both reception, and sales.
As for me, i can't decide. I have Vice and 6th World Almanac, but they're on reading queue for the moment, so i can't say i like/hate it. Maybe when i read them, i'll have an opinion on the directions SR4 has taken.
I've been a huge Earthdawn fan, but what RedBrick is doing is basically pumping the fanbase of ED for money with minimal effort, by releasing old content with not enough changes in both rules and storyline/setting. I hope that will change, when they start to release books like Kratas, or maybe with Cathay. But for me, there's nothing in those re-done books - I've already seen them all. With Shadowrun, that's not the case. Everything i read is new...
But i still see Shadowrun was crippled. All those great freelancers who were creating something new are gone, and some of them even oppose everything CGL does on principle. This is wrong. I don't really care who 'did it'. Because that won't help - they won't call a truce, nor go back to the way it was.
Again - i don't have any opinion on the 'current SR', but i deeply regret it's not the same Shadowrun I saw in the 20th Anniversary rulebook, or Street Magic/Arsenal/Unwired/Runner's Companion.