I'm actually working on 2 version in order to make 1 release. The 1st version as you state is the re-write, but the 2nd version (seen in screen shot) is the goal (which suppresses the editor in place of ckeditor). It goes without saying that the 1st version is actually going along a little quicker than version 2.
The 1st version is requiring a lot of re-writting code. But this is giving me an understanding of exactly where & how the editor words in XenForo. This is what is allowing me to develop a modification (add-on) to "bypass" the core and "hide" the core editor (think of it as a proxy inside XenForo).
I don't want to release version 1 as I don't think anyone would want to edit or replace their core files. The idea is not to do that.
Don't expect a release any time soon. It is turning up to be A LOT more work than I wanted it to be. Far too much actually, but I'm going keep on trying until I either get it right or until XenForo decides to surprise us all with it in another version (would actually prefer they release it)
edit: I've written and re-written this post... I'm poor explainer of code. Sorry... Hope you get the gist of it.