Video cards of the *ATI* family (Just the facts)

The press is already featuring phrases about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260/280, such as "the worst NVIDIA graphics cards in the history of the California brand."

Why is that? The GTX260 performs better in tests, but the price is high. However, as already noted, this is temporary. I'm trying to understand: what is generally more powerful: GF9800GTX or HD4850? And how are the drivers for the new Radeon cards?