Acube did the right thing.
While it may be entirely confusing to even imagine, I've been contemplating picking up a SAM 460 board to replace my SAM 440ep. Once the announcement came out that I'd have to pay for video drivers for the more modern cards, it soured my attitude to the point I crossed the 460 purchase off the list when this news first came out. Merely a matter of principle. My 440 works fine, but obviously is the low end of the SAM mobos. I'd enjoy the 460, but by no means do I *need* the horsepower it offers
Yeah, I realize it's on'y a $30 payment, but it wasn't about the money. Just as I would not buy a commodity PC/mobo/gfx card and readily pay a gfx card manfacturer for gfx drivers, I wasn't willing to do so with the SAM. The things are expensive enough without having to shell out more money. After ACube's latest announcement, I'll likely pick a 460 up in the upcoming month or so.
