Many features are disabled because they are not needed by 99% of players.
I have already been asked to restore the old book. What other interface tweaks are you missing in the latest versions of the mod?
I agree that it is not needed by 99% of players. However, I use the HD mod because of the following:
1) Army management. Specifically, only in the hero and city windows, not when heroes meet (due to the presence of non-authentic interface elements).
2) Bug fixes. This is a real treasure. Critical bug fixes and others (HD+).
3) Plugin support.
Therefore, for me, using version 3.811f with almost everything disabled has become a solution. Plus, I wrote a plugin to make the battle results the old way (without the ability to replay) and the inventory the old way.
Added 11 minutes later
I sent you the code in a private message on the VogForum.