Wow... I posted a long reply before but it looks like it got eaten. I'll recap it in shorter form :)

Basically you are incorrect from the information I have on both points. There are numerous sources that indicate that the primary requirement to benefit from the P4 is to recompile your code with a compiler that knows how to do it. In fact the folks at Discreet did exactly that to get the performance version of Max and saw a 5-30% increase off the bat.

Their results indicate that there has been NO performance decrease under other processors as a result of this change.

That about covers it. Recompile with an optimizing compiler. Doesn't seem like a big problem, and there is a version of the compiler for Linux that shows similar speed increases.

So, to recap for my points:

• All the software I use that needs the boost is already optimized, and those optimizations are part of the primary branch and will continue to be optimized in future releases. This leaves Poser as the only exception... but I can't imagine that Poser 5 will not when it is trivial to do so.
• The 3D display library (DirectX)  most used by the games we develop and play here all benefit from the P4 optimizations . Quake for instance is dramatically faster on the P4. Serious Sam is not, but that's due mostly to it's rather "old school" rendering engine.
• The application software we are developing for clients is all under .NET on both the server and client side. This applications that can benefit do so automatically.

I have seen nothing that indicates that this is a nightmare of hand optimization in assembly. In fact all the information I have seen indicates that it is a simple compiler flag. Interestingly, not only is Max faster with the optimization, but more accurate (the internal format used now is 80 bits).

Personally, I am not concerned about the Athlons... I want everyone to be fast :) It's fine by me. But the P4 is not a bad chip and it has some advantages. Like most things in the tech world when teams of smart people attack a problem there are trade offs. For me, the P4 fits my uses better :)