I think that a similar tool will be
very useful and interesting... I hope it will be realized...
...I think that another interesting tool
to implement could be the "Paste Inside" tool, that was implemented in
Freehand (Edit -> Specials -> Paste Inside) in a quite easy to use way,
but not in Illustrator (or else in a more complex way). You can find some
discussions around this tool over the web, for example at this link: http://www.gigposters.com/forums/digital/53073-freehand-paste-inside-vs-illustrator-clipping-mask.html.
Or you can find a video (filmed using Illustrator) that show what's the
"paste inside": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBmlIPuKEbY.
I use Inkscape since a few time under Windows Vista and, for now, I don't have bugs to report. It' s a very great software!!