"I also wonder if there aren't improvements planned for the hair and cloth modules. Simulation speeds would almost have to be improved, as well as collision detection, to have features that would appeal enough to a higher end market where time is $$$$."

Calculations liek that aren't much faster on higher end software then what you see in Poser.. they have more/different features, but when you add massive physics calculations, that just takes time to compute. Studios use render farms of a LOT o networed systems woring together, and each one is typically loaded for bear.

And I also already posted info from EF, that the application will run in 32 bit, but to take advantage of the 64 bit renderer , you need a 64 bit OS installed and running.

As far as replacing studios with lowerr end hardware.. eventually yes that could happen, but with each hardware advance, there is also a software advance, with newer high end feature possibilities.. that's why the best high end software still costs as much (or more) as it did 10 or 15 years ago.

And professionals won't settle for "second best".. they WILL want the latest greatest, in their commercial applications, or in films.

You CAN deliver lower end "cable" commercial quality product with cheaper tools now, but you could also do that 15 years ago with lightwave and the video toaster.. but just like then as now, lower end production pays much less, expects the moon and stars, and has no understanding of time vs costs, and want everything dirt cheap or free. Upside is lower ed stuff looks much better then it used to, and that will always be the case.

I don't see the computer graphics advancements ending for another 10 years or so, and hardware advancments are still movng so fast, there's no telling what we'll all be using then.. heck, we might all be using some 3d system by then. and 3d computetions might be even more complex then, still pushing the hardware beyond software's limits.

look back 10 years, look at what we all used, and then look at today, and all the high tech gadgets.. cell phones, blueberries, advanced laptops, GPS, ect.. now try to imagine that many advancements 10 years out.. it's kinda staggering how fast everything is still moving.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.