I really don't think it's too much to expect to 90 talents to be changed to a small degree to allow for a bit more flexibility when choosing them. What I think prevents us from getting an overhaul - and I mean overhaul - is that it requires changes to pretty much every other spell since we're balanced around the buffs that the talents provide. But the problem is that the buffs are too difficult to keep up without a very specific style of encounter.
So just make them easier to work with. Why not make rune of power bigger, or make it like a "rod" of power, where there is an 8 yd radius we can move around in, like a totem? And if it's just too much to design a new spell, what with the artwork and icons and crap, just make the rune have a larger radius. Probably would look retarded as hell, especially if you have 3+ mages in the raid, but I'd still take it.
I'm not sure how much of a change IW needs - I'm ok with it having its PvP niche, and it's probably difficult to balance for PvE anyway because of the fact that it's strong for PvP. Maybe allowing the buff to last longer than the CD on the spell, so there is some room for error?
I'm not actually suggesting these changes, but if I can spend 3 minutes and come up with a change that's even marginally better, how hard can it be for someone that does this for a living to find something suitable?