Intel Corp (INTC)

[fingolfen]

This means that developers don't get machines either.

Not necessarily... Intel's level of validation on any new processor is impressive. Evaluation machines are probably already out there with people working on them.

If it's not a "big deal", I hope it slips to Q4. And then Q1 05. It'll be fun watching Dell freak out.

Again, it's only not a "big deal" until their is mainstream OS support. When 64-bit Windows comes out, if IA32e isn't out, then it is a "big deal".

Then again, if Nocona performance really "sucks" as per c't, maybe its eventual launch won't matter much anyway?

Internal contradiction in your post... if developers don't have machines, c't couldn't know anything about Nocona performance... good, bad, or ugly... so you've essentially torpedoed your own argument.