For once I agree with [MENTION=6698278]Emerikol[/MENTION]. Gygax set up a tight fantasy game about dungeon crawling and balanced, playtested, and polished it.
4e is a tight fantasy game about epic quests that has been balanced, playtested, and polished.
The goals are fundamentally different - and I don't believe Gygax would have written 4e - it was not what he wanted to write a game about, and I don't believe that epic quests interested him. On the other hand once you have the differing design goals, the methods to achieve those goals are similar.
2e and 3e on the other hand turned their backs on all the methods Gygax used. For that matter, the tagline of 3.0 was "Back to the dungeon" due to 2e neglecting the very thing Gygax wrote the game about. And the dungeon focus didn't stay long in 3.0 and was almost entirely gone by the time 3.5 came out and made the Sunrod core equipment. Near the end of 3.5 (and continuing into Pathfinder), the focus is Epic Quests - something 4e was designed to do.
Wow. You agreed with me. Let me wait for the shock to wear off before I continue.
I agree with a lot of what you said. 4e was far less optimization driven. 3e was an optimizers dream. You could tweak your class some in 4e so I'm not saying it's zero optimization but it was far less. I agree that Gygax didn't design a game that was optimization driven.
I like more than 1e or 2e ever offered but I don't need 3e. Here's some changes I'd make in 3e.
1. No prestige classes at all. Never used them never liked them.
2. All multiclassing is level balanced (Fighter 5/Wizard 5)
3. The fighter class would boost your caster level a little
4. Fewer rules systems and more DM empowerment
5. I'd keep Feats and make them all manuevers. (I'd bring in some 4e powers as feats. Some.)
6. I'd remove feats from classes that have no martial connection
7. I'd have a long skill list.
8. I'd add an advantages/disadvantages system. Optional of course.
8. I've give everyone the same skill points. I'd have limits on max skill level like +7 or something.
9. Rogue would be a fighter subclass like Paladin/Ranger/etc...
So yeah. I'd either bring 1e/2e forward a little or 3e back a little. Since I like the d20 roll high math of 3e I'd likely start there and go back.