I am not saying the 1911 is a bad gun, it is certainly one of the most iconic pistols in existence, and if you were to take someone who knows nothing about guns, they might be able to recognize a 1911, Luger and maybe a C96 (or at least the names).

As far as it goes I really don't care what pistol I am issued provided it can shoot its rounds downrange reliably. Caliber doesn't matter too much, I remember reading a story about a cop who put 6rds of .45 into a guy at point blank range and it didn't kill him, now the cop carries a 9mm with as many rounds as possible.

Just as far as designs go if John Browning had perfected the handgun at the 1911, why did continue to design handguns and carry on to design the Hi-Power? Which is my choice handgun at the moment for a combat pistol. Personally I wish Mannlicher had been born a little later so he would have had more time to play with smokeless powder, I would have loved to see the results of that.