I guess I have to take exception to this statement (I don't know why). In my opinion, there hasn't actually been that many "insiders", if any, posting. From lurking in these various thread, I'm aware of Thuway, who doesn't claim to be an insider; Proelite, who I also don't think has made that claim; Karak, same deal; Bruce Lee Roy, same deal; llerhe (sp?) who everyone says is an insider, but hasn't made any definite claims either; and Aegis. While no company is above sneaky PR, it would be a poor effort on Microsoft's part if any of the people above were stealth PR.
I don't think Aegis views himself as an insider, just someone who's had info passed along to him from his sources like the folks above. At best (or worst) he's made some general claims that we don't have the full picture on Durango (same for Orbis); I don't see that vagueness as being equatable to special sauce. If folks have been claiming special sauce, you have to ask: are they genuine so-called insiders, in which case their statements should be paid attention to/they should be brought to task; or are they random posters like the rest of us, speculating/hoping/wishing that there might be some performance aspect that, quite frankly, is most likely not there - in which case, those folks should just be ignored, or schooled respectfully. My only issue with posters who are quick to take arms over special sauce, is that it's too often throwing the legit/interesting discussions off track.
It seems to me the rational, for lack of a better word, posters speculating about Durango have readily accepted the available evidence, and so their continued posting is genuine interest/speculation on the design decisions; it is a legitimate point of speculation as to whether or not MS has elements in their design to mitigate what seems to be a serious performance delta. It's probably not the case, and everyone knows that. But I don't think there's anything wrong with bringing these issues to bear as a point of discussion, and sometimes this thread makes it through a few pages where folks seem to be ok with that.
Maybe we should establish new ground rules: Everyone accepts the fact, upfront, that Orbis is more powerful - without the need for any qualifiers or parity comparisons. For anyone bringing up Durango, it should be implicit that no one is daring to suggest that it will be more powerful than Orbis, or even come close; Orbis wins the power crown.
I find the design rational behind both consoles to be very interesting. I think, quite honestly, that MS simply decided not to go for power; they had to assume that Sony might, but they (MS) just didn't care. So, I admire their apparent willingness to go their own path, without consideration of trying to outdo what the competition may or may not do. The question is why, and how or if we will benefit from that decision.