The issue really isn't me tracking my own changes. In that case, version control does great. The problem is adoption by collaborators, particularly for PIs that don't want to take the time to sit down and learn something new.

The problem with Word's track / review features isn't necessarily that they're good, it's that they're so entrenched in academic writing (even in the sciences), that attempting to do anything else gets zero traction from most PIs and collaborators. Even PIs that use LaTeX themselves are hesitant to collaborate using it because of the extra friction it introduces as compared to Word's track/review tools.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think the only way to migrate some collaborators away from Word and to LaTeX in a collaborative setting is to basically duplicate Word's track/review/comment features and incorporate them into a LaTeX-based system.