Chrowen, I hope you don't mind if I answer you here in the forum but I think it is a good question and is relavant here and I think my answer should spark a few discussions that might help.
I'm personally not a big fan of the stratos this far in, partly because I like moded saws, but mostly because of the power to weight ratio. Part of the fun of modifying saws for me is finding a better way to skin the proverbial cat, the strato is just a new challenge for dumb ole gear heads like me and we will figure a way around it same as always.
The holy grail of handheld power equipment is power to weight ratio, nobody wants to carry more weight than is necessary to get the job done. That’s why guys have 15 saws in their sig lines. One for small trees, one for big trees, one for monster trees, one for limbing, one for limbing the limbs, and so on. The stratos up to now have all put on weight from their non-stratoed predecessors, not a huge increase but a pound is a pound is a pound.
There is no advanced combustion technology with the new stratos, just a different way of getting the fuel and air into the cylinder and scavenging the spent gasses. The strato is really not as complicated as it all seems and they do tend to get better "fuel mileage" which is a plus for some folks and maybe it should be, but most homeowner/moderate saw users will probably burn less than 5 gallons of fuel a year so in truth fuel mileage isn't really an issue. The guys that run a saw day in and day out should be the ones happiest with the increase in fuel mileage but on the flip side they are also the ones most affected by the increase in weight.
As far as buy now or later??
If you want a saw with a good power to weight ratio I say you probably should buy now and try to beat the EPA deadline or I think you should be prepared to wait a year or two while it all shakes out.
I think eventually all of the manufacturers are going to slowly improve and will eventually get things back to where they are now, or possibly even better, but I think it's going to take a while. While it looks like Stihl is the one dragging there feet the most here I think they might actually lead the charge and I'm kinda looking forward to seeing the MS461.
I think
(and if Stihl follows the path they've always taken) the 461 will probably be a slightly improved MS441 with a 2mm bore increase, in which case the added weight will be negligible and will put that saw back in line with where it should be weight wise and probably a little better power wise with quad transfers and better fuel efficiency..... if I’m right it should be one very nice saw. The 361 already has the improved anti-vibe and filter set-ups so all that’s left to do is scale down the strato to fit the smaller dimensions and it’s good to go which with Stihls system should not add any appreciable weight.
Stihls strato design is probably the best out there as far not adding weight to the saw and also in terms of ease of modability. I think where most of the weight came from in the 441 was from the new and improved anti-vibe and air filtration systems and the need to add things to the saw to support these new systems.
If your not to worried about the extra pound and you have no plans to mod the saw I think the MS441 is as fine a strato saw as is out there, but I would hate to buy one right now and have them release the new and improved MS461 shortly after.
Anyway just my long winded two cents on the matter.
BTW if I we're spending my money, I would get the 361 now, no matter what happens with the stratos you'll never wish you had waited. It's gonna be hard to ever make that saw any better than it is already.
