They haven't succeeded because they still see the need for both a search box and an address box and the tabs don't close right under where the last close button was (my biggest gripes).
It's not really a fix, but as a less-aggravating workaround, you can use ctl-w or ctl-F4 to close tabs. That way you don't have to reposition the mouse every time you want to close a tab. And I can hit ctl-w with my left hand, so I still don't have to take my right hand off the mouse to use the keyboard shortcut.
2. (and this is the killer feature for me) If a particular search engine is selected (say, IMDB), I can right-click on any word on a page, and one of the context menu options is "Search IMDB for <selection>..."
Also, horizontal real-estate is not much of a concern on a wide-screen monitor - how much of the URL would I really want to see..?
Now maybe you're OK with that. But a lot of users are not (including non-technical users who don't even realize this behavior exists; once you explain what the unified bar does to them they become _very_ unhappy).