Yeah, I'll just have to try it out, Godfrey. I think regular shutter mode on the M9 is pretty bad, with its three positions, but, since I don't use A mode, I stick with "soft" release and its two positions, which feels pretty good to me.
There has been a hint or two that Leica may have more M models in the pipeline. If that is so, I'd love to see something that takes the M mechanical improvements, skips all of the other non-rangefinder stuff, and comes in at a lower price, but I don't have my hopes up, and the price of the M 240 is lower than I expected, anyways.