Things that would detract from a next gen 990 for me:
-full video upconversion from any analog source to DVI
-THX Ultra certification
-HDTV Terrestrial Tuning

I have never ran video through a receiver or Pre/Pro and would really like to see all those connectors go away. It is time for analog to go away. Now if it had digital video (HDMI) only I might be able to live with it.
THX is pretty meaningless these days I'd much rather save the cost.
I'd leave the tuner to an external box or the display.

I know I'm in the minority but I really don't want video in my Pre/Pro especially analog. I would like to see the Pre/Pro focus on audio and leave the video to something else. There must be others who can't stand OSDs. One thing I like about the 950 is you can set it up from the front panel.

My main requirement will be an HDMI interface that has a pathway for Hi-Rez digital audio to the DSP. In the mean time I'll take Firewire.