I really prefer that '.' and '->' remain separate, because it makes it immediately clear when a potentially expensive pointer derefence is happening:

    x = a->b->c->d->e;

...is a pointer-hunting-nightmare / potential cache-miss-galore.

    x = a.b.c.d.e;

...no problem, the whole chain is resolved at compile time into a single offset and results in at most one memory access.

    x = a.b.c->d.e;

...makes it immediately clear that c->d is a pointer access and everything else isn't.

PS: ...and of course C++ messed this simple rule up with the introduction of references.