Anyway, enough rant
I would say your rant is justified.
I don't get you here. Actually, it was much more complicated in MPT 1.16 to distinguish what can be used with which module type. For example, channel panning and default channel volume was also configurable for MOD and XM files, which don't support those settings.
Yes there are improvements, but still the there are numerous places where a user who haven't studied the IT format - in practice a majority of users - can't really know is the feature MPT-specific. A few examples:
-How many channels/rows/patterns/samples/instruments IT supports?
-What kind of samples IT supports?
-Which of the modcommands are MPT-specific?
-Does IT support plugins?
-Which of the instrument settings are MPT-specific?