I doubt they'll try to make firm predictions on the Model 998 until the Model 978 is done and they can focus more resources on the Trinnov integration - especially since part of me suspects that the biggest reason for the decision to create the Model 978 was uncertainty from developers on how much time they needed to squeeze Trinnov onto a dual-TI platform.


Practically speaking, if it's five years or even two years, the core architecture of the Model 978 platform is going to start looking too dated and they'll likely need to start making changes there, as well. I doubt that's going to be the case, for a number of reasons. Trinnov's engineers have had time to learn more about scaling the code to fit on consumer platforms like this, which is only going to help, and Outlaw's not going to want to miss the chance to make full use of their new hardware. Based on all that, I'd think they'd push really, really hard to keep the Model 998 from being more than 12 months behind the Model 978.

Also, we don't have any detailed specifics on possible differences beyond Trinnov. If they keep the hardware unchanged, they should be able to either avoid or significantly fast-track a lot of certifications, which would also save time...