[linux-audio-dev] Linux 2.6 not a latency panacea?

I am distressed. It was my understanding that the 2.5/2.6 kernel branch was undergoing significant scheduler and latency work, and that 2.6 would eliminate the kernel from the list of obstacles of low-latency on Linux. It will have the preemptable kernel patch, the new scheduler, and all of Ingo Molnar's low-latency work. Claims were being thrown around that 2.6 would be the lowest-latency operating system on the planet. So how is it that we're in the 2.6.0-test series and people are complaining about audio skipping in **XMMS**, which uses three second buffers by default?? If people are getting skips from high-latency playback, what hope is there for low-latency audio? A series of patches are coming from both Ingo and Con Kolivas attempting to address this, but the fact they are just now throwing around potential solutions erodes at my faith that they really understand the problem or how to solve it. Is 2.6.x going to be suitable for low-latency (or even reliable high-latency) audio? Or is it going to be more of the same: patching the kernel, tweaking parameters, reading magical incantations, and hoping for the best? Reassure me please! Josh