I agree. The only downside is the driver which I feel was perhaps too rough on the edge at launch. The cards are very feature rich when compared to Nvidia and AMD.
To be fair, that was to be expected; I am very pleased to see how Intel continuously roll out driver updates, which actually fixes a lot of performance issues. This is something that AMD can take a hint with, AMD still doesn't roll out fixes fast enough for my taste, it's one of the reasons I moved to nVidia long ago.
Though Intel might be the "underdog" for now, they are the only company that generates excitement on my end when new models are announced, they just need to get faster.
When I think about nVidia, the first thought that comes to mind, "minimal performance gain, twice the price, you are going to being ripped off" When I think about AMD, "Why haven't you improved your features 2 generations onward, why don't you fix this driver issue, you expect me to pay what though you are not on top?"
Anyways, I am rambling, I guess I am just pleased there is a third player on the boards. Then again, these days, I get price fixing vibes all the more often so maybe the "competition" won't mean much in the end.