If anyone out there is thinking of buying D&D 4e because they want to use the online tools straight away don't bother, as they are not available and won't be for some indeterminate time.

Despite the unavailability of the tools, there is NO mention of that fact on the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons main page.  There is a rather ambiguous announcement in the ampersand column buried deep in the website http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20080609

You can read more about it here http://forums.gleemax.com/forumdisplay.php?f=878