I dont dislike the current system i thin it could use some work mainly when you select a terraforming improvement all tiles should be colour coded to what level they can be improved to. 

I'm not a fan of the way it is now but I've been assuming that by release something will be implemented so we know which tiles will become available.  However I plan on modding terraforming once the game releases.  

Terraforming is rather obtuse at present and could really use more information so we can plan in advance without needing to "save" our terraforms, but as far as wasted terraforming goes, that's just opportunity cost.

You have an early opportunity to get an extra tile, or you have a later opportunity to not waste the resources you spent getting that extra tile.  It's something that would suck the first time you blew terraforming on stuff you could have gotten later and didn't see a benefit from it, but that's why you should read the tech tree before playing your first game to familiarize yourself with it.

Since terraformable tiles aren't visually intiutive from the graphical representations on the planet maps, it would be nice to have the full terraformable tiles shown from the start, with delineation between requirements visible.

Well, soil enhancement is the exception. It is a level 1 terraforming improvement, so you don't get anything for waiting. As a level 1 terraforming improvement, it can only compete with the unlimited level 1 terraforming improvement that the rest get to avoid. In fact, it cheaper to build the than its competitor, so you would want to build it anyways to get a discount.

The rest are different because they can terraform tiles that the level 1s can't. That is why I gave them levels because each new can develop tiles the last one can't. The general problem is they can also be used to develop they can be used to develop any lower level tiles, including the level 1 tiles which you can all of without needing to use the higher level improvements. If you do so, then you wasted those improvements.

For instance, you have a world that has 5 potential level 1s, 3 potential level 2s, and 2 potential level 3s. The soil enhancement is a level 1, so it could be used to terraform any of the 5 level 1s. Later, the improvement that can terraform an unlimited number of level 1s can be used to terraform the remaining 4 level 1s. Either way, the world will have been improved by 5 tiles. The level 2 terraforming improvement can be used to terraform any one of the 3 level 2 tiles... or it could be used to terraform any of the level 1s. So depending on what you do, you could improve the world by 6 tiles or by 5 tiles if you use a level 2 improvement to develop a level 1 tile. Likewise, the level 3 improvement could improve any of the 2 level 3 tiles, any of the level 2 tiles, or any of the level 1 tiles. So you could get as much as 7 new tiles, or as little as 5 new tiles if you build them on the level 1 tiles.

I like the current system to be honest. If you choose to hold off then you can yield a better planet possibly, but if you wait you also don't use tiles for a while.. so long term is it worth not having reaped the rewards along the way? I personally have done both depending on how my needs were being met. 

I agree and pointed this out during Beta 4.  While this could be considered a regular game mechanic as Bamdorf suggests, it is different from the way GC 2 did it (which didn't overlap terraform tiles).  Another issue is how this works with Ideologies that improve planet quality (add hexes).  I would rather wait as long as possible and terraform every possible hex before selecting Ideologies that improve planet quality.  There is also an upper limit on the number of hexes that can be improved on any world (I ran into it in Beta 4 but haven't seen it yet in Beta 5).  Considering Trantor in the Foundation series books and Corusant in Star Wars as world-spanning cities, why the limit?

My thoughts.

Yes, I now remember he was asking people, "Where can I find the nuclear wessels, please?"   Obviously not well trained in spying.   Supposedly to capture particles from the reactor, one of the less convincing technical aspects of the movie.    Well, that show was pretty heavy on comedy.   Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the show from time to time.

Idea, though may not be doable.

Terraforming tech more expensive, but auto-unlocks the tiles?  Might need to be a more variable tech cost based on size of empire than other techs.