> there’s also the general feeling that the D creators’ vision of what a fixed C++ looks like is just vastly different from mine

I have emphasized for years that D is not C++. It can be used as a replacement for C++, in the sense that it does the same things, but it is not accurate to call it a "fixed C++". So many times I have seen C++ programmers disappointed that D is not C++. On the other hand, if you're a C programmer, you'll probably be comfortable writing D code. I think of D and C++ as incompatible forks of C.