Not only will they have just 2.0 sound, but according to Digital Bits will not be anamorphic widescreen and will be state-of-the-art transfers from 1993 (from a laser-disc release).

http://digitalbits.com/#mytwocents  (the 5/18/06 edition)

The rant concerning WHY is fairly interesting, but I admit my interest in this release has waned drastically; I don't care how limited they are.  I have the silver-box widescreen release from two years ago (that comes with the bonus disc, unlike the re-release last year), and I am pretty sure I will only watch the originals once max, mainly because I've never watched through all of the originals (the first time I saw all of Star Wars was the 1997 theatrical releases of the special editions)---nostalgia doesn't play a role and I really don't care who shot first.

So, for me and for now, especially in light of the above, I don't care to repurchase the special editions for this double-dip release of them with the originals.  What say the rest of you?

I think Hunt's last paragraph pretty much summarizes my own view about the whole thing:

"In any case, rest assured that we're as sick of talking about the Star Wars films on disc as you probably are of hearing it. But our motto here at The Bits is right up there in our logo: "Celebrating Film in the Digital Age." It's awfully damn hard to find anything worth celebrating about this. Which is a real shame... because it was pretty damn cool news there for a little while."

Again, I've generally come to accept the Special Edition changes at this point, and am perfectly happy with the 2004 DVD releases.  It's just a pity that the original films are getting the shaft this way; even if I wanted to, it'd be tough watching the films again in their non-anamorphic format and 1993 state.

Well I wanted these. I haven't mellowed to the changes in the new versions - I have no problem with cleaning effects etc but the content has been tampered with and, personally, I don't like it.

It has been totally clear that Lucas never wanted to see these original versions again. As much as I think he is totally money-hungry, I don't even think that's his reason for releasing these. I think he wants to get them out there to 'prove' once and for all that his new versions are better. It probably bugs him that so many people complain about the changes that he thought were needed. By releasing the crappest possible versions of the original films along with the nice polished new ones, he is hoping we'll all see sense and acknowledge that the newer ones are better.

He is deliberately giving us crap versions. As someone who wants those original films, this is an insult and I'd rather stick with the laserdisc rips.

I had wondered whether they were going to go through the trouble of cleaning up the original versions to the extent they did the special editions, but never thought they would actually release them non-anamorphic.  I made the mistake of buying one non-anamorphic letterboxed DVD and it looked like crap on my widescreen TV, which isn't even HD.  Never going to make that mistake again, even for Star Wars.  Even without a widescreen TV I would pass on these new releases just because Lucasfilm are so obviously shorting their customers.  Plus I'm generally happy with the DVD special editions anyway, especially the ending music in Jedi.

Will be interesting to see what Lucasfilm pull out of their errm... hats... for the 30th anniversary next year.

I'm pretty much in total agreement with Jay.  I despise the changes and I always wanted to see the originals released on DVD, but not like this.  It looks like I'll have to stick to my VHS tapes for now.  No matter what Lucas does, he'll never get the diehard fans to acknowledge his changes as having been for the best, because they aren't.  The guy has no appreciation for the fans that made him rich and I'm not going to buy this thing that he's throwing out there as a bone.