dcostalis

I think demetris nailed all the major points, but I’d like to add a couple things:

2. An Options page, to tweak very basic things. This page would also help theme authors in general, as a model; now it is not easy building options pages for WordPress.

I think having a few basic options could help extend the half-life of the default theme. Having a few basics such as one or two columns, columns on the left or right, and maybe even a few color options can help keep it from getting stale as everyone upgrades to 3.0

3. HTML5 doctype. Enough said!

Yes. Please. If popular software like WordPress sticks with 4.01 or xhtml 1.0, the internet is doomed.

4. Sensible typography!

Absolutely. Even sticking with the core blueprint model and advertising it as such would be a vast improvement! It’s clean, it’s classy, it’s modern, just like WordPress 3.0 will be.

On a somewhat related note, I’d like to see a better “example” post sample on install, actually showing off everything that can be done. I think this will help new users immensely. Showing just how the gallery works and all the <hx> tags right off the bat can be a great resource. Also, a quick one-click “hide all” for the initial DB entries… this comment may not quite belong here, but ensuring that all aspects of the theme are solid and conform to typography standards is important to remember!