RonFrank:
Oly dumped it's SLR line once in recent history, they have remained well behind Canon, Nikon, Fuji (Nikon Mount), and even Kodak in DSLR development, and remain behind in all but the low end market (prosumer under 1K).
So the question really becomes how much faith do you have that Oly will continue to support the DSLR line in light of the fact they have abondened their SLR users in the past decade or so, and does that really matter to the individual?
Sigma is releasing 4/3rd lenses for the Oly dSLRs. They've just announced 5 more lenses with 4/3rd mounts which will be added to the few lenses that they've been carrying for 4/3rds for a couple years.
Panasonic just released a 4/3rds body. It premiered with a Leica midzoom with OIS. I doubt this will be the first/last lense Leica makes for 4/3rd mount cams considering their relationship with Panasonic.
Olympus has (4) bodies for the 4/3rd lenses in just as many years, with a new pro-body that is supposed to be available by early '07.
4/3rds is not an Olympus only venture, it was a joint project with several companies to build a digital SLR system from the ground up. I believe Olympus, Sigma, Panasonic, Fuji, and a few other companies helped develope the system. While we haven't seen anything from Fuji in the world of 4/3rds since their part in developement, it doesn't mean there isn't room for them in the future.
Olympus's own line of lenses with Zuiko glass is actually quite fantastic. There are some gaps that some people would like to see taken care of, but whats available is more than ample and all top-notch. You really don't have to worry about whether or not the lense is a good one or not when purchasing Zuiko, there aren't many, but they're all good(as good or better than Canon/Nikon according to some when paired up to similar lenses). That being said, I don't think lenses will ever be a concern to me as the lenses currently available are plenty enough for my needs and with the surge of new bodies using the same mount, I don't think there will be a shortage anytime soon.
I'm not sure how they are behind in dSLR developement. No, they don't have a camera that shoots rapid frames at an obscene amount of mp, or at super high 'film' speeds, but the image quality is fantastic and color and tonality are top-notch. There is a pro-level camera in the works that should be available by early '07 that may deliver all these things for the pro's who need them and the gadget geeks who just want em. The pro level Zuiko glass obviously wasn't intended for the likes of the E500 and E300 budget cameras. They are were(Panasonic now shares the technology) the only manufacture who have the SSWF filters on the sensor preventing dust. You can remap your pixels without sending the cam off to the manufacturer(I'm willing to bet all those early D200 users wished they had that after banding became a real problem for some). First dSLR specific lenses for their bodies. First with LiveView.
I guess in the end, it would depend on what you want to shoot as well. The currently lineup of Olympus bodies aren't any faster than 3fps and shots taken at ISO1600 will show an unacceptable amount of noise without a thirdparty program used to clean them up. If you want to shoot sports in lowlight, look elsewhere
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