I think skipping 1.7 is a mistake, I'd expect 1.8 to be as bad, or even worse, then 1.7. I've heard "inventory rewrite" and "railway changes" which scare me...There is no ETA for a 1.7 version of AMP because 1.7 and mods are still very much in the early stages of development. Many mod authors haven't even started on their 1.7 builds yet and I wouldn't be surprised if many skip 1.7 entirely.
Oh, and speaking of 1.7 packs, I'll have a intermediate gregtech pack once all the mods become stable or close to stable
