Well we all knew what a good camera the 20D was anyway, and 2 mill pixels isn't that significant an increase, so with all those comparisons being full frame shots, we shouldn't expect to see any huge difference leaping at us.
The noise performance going by those tests is disappointing, but I've seen far better results elsewhere. Digital Revs have done some noise shot comparisons whch show a very marked improvement in noise.
I'm very interested in the 40D, as there is still a big advantage in a 1:6 crop sensor camera using long tele lenses, particularly for smaller birds and critters, so I'll wait and see what other reviewers think of it, but given it's pixel count, it should out -perform even the 21 million pixels of the 1DSMK3 when it comes to substantially cropping images. If you can fill that full frame sensor (Grizzlies in Alaska, but take spare underwear!) the advantages are obvious, but for Blue Tits in Bognor, or Squidgers in Sidcup, the 40D just might be the best Canon you can buy.
There's more to it than pixel count obviously, but with it's better AF, weather sealing, 14 bit colour, allegedly lower noise and other features it's looking extremely good from where I'm standing.
