Now I'm a relative newbie to this forum (I've lurked a lot over the past week, but this will only be post #2 for me), so what I'm going to say will probably go against what a lot of you are saying.

Here's my position: I'd love an anamorphic widescreen version of the original film as it was originally shown, but right now it looks pretty unlikely that that's what we're going to be getting.

I'm going to buy the new releases regardless (actually I preordered them through FYE.com today). Why?

I own the OT 1997 SE on VHS. They're getting pretty worn out.[/li]
regardless of whether or not the OUT is being considered a "bonus" feature to the 2004 OT SE, I want to see both versions.[/li]

or someone like me it's win-win (even if it's a lose on the anamorphic widescreen) because I'm replacing my crappy, worn out VHS SE with the 2004 SE and I'm getting the original version on DVD.