Same here.
> Responses should always be inline between relevant quotes rather than the default of hiding the original at the bottom.
This is highly polarizing. As you can tell I also like inline replies. I grew up using BBSs and inline replies were common. It seemed so natural. Then Outlook came around and top-posting became the norm.
I have gotten some scathing criticism from higher-ups for inline responses (along with some scant praise). I have been told, repeatedly, that inline responses are confusing.
Personally, I think anybody confused by inline responses (particularly if they're formatted distinctly) probably shouldn't be using email as part of their job because they lack the necessary mental faculties.
(I've given up with my strongly-held beliefs about plain text email. I still send plain text by default but I grudgingly reply with HTML / rich text if an email started that way.)