Will these Matter-over-Thread products be any good
Yes, it seems like it.
are you sticking with Zigbee and Z-Wave?
Never got caught in those “ecosystems”, so this might rather be the point where I can fill some gaps in my HA lineup 
I think there is about 0% of a chance that this will change (forbidden by specification) as long big p(l)ayers for matter are apple, amazon, google and Samsung that all want to protect their walled gardens 
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FYI, one of the major downside to the Matter standard is that it does not officially support custom manufacturer-specific extensions like Zigbee does and its specification has not yet been fleshed out to cover edge/niche device types and as such some Matter device manufacturers have taken to create propriatory extensions that is not compatible with the Matter standard and therefore only works in the manufacturers own controller (hub/gateway/bridge).
Development of the Matter standard specification is moving relativly slow so its still missing device types and base classes which can be a hinder for innovation, which is why manufacturers feel forced to add their own propriatory extensions to expose feature and function that are not yet part of the stdnard.
Zigbee speciication allow manufacturer-specific extensions and as long as the manufacturer document their customizations then third-party Zigbee gateways also have the possibility to implement them even though it is not included in the standard Zigbee Cluster Library (ZCL).
Z-Wave does not really support manufacturer-specific extensions either, which isas an example the reason why there are not yet any Z-Wave mmWave Precense sensors available on the market.
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it does not officially support custom manufacturer-specific extensions
If the standard evolves further, this will not really be necessary anymore. Most basic things are already nicely covered and the standard is evolving quickly. Give it a few more years and you won’t miss anything.
I would disagree that Matter evolving quickly. Far from that. Adoptions to the latest standard for the big guys has been super slow - the latest is V1.4.x, and you can check which version apple/google/amazon is at.
As a result the adoptions for consumers like you and me has been slow also. People are losing hope.
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Basic settings like power-on state or inching? No, not with matter “standard” but with manufacture app (with trackers), cloud and forced account that needs private data…
Brave new world 
Or never got hope. 
100% matter free - because full local control and ownership matters!
Matter was obviously specifically made to further enrich Amazon,googe,apple,Samsung and others with more data. For that it is crucial that matter buyers don’t have ownership over “their” devices. Any rugpull that companies like “future home” or others did are possible with matter devices…let alone the integrated kill switch that matter offers to the vendors 
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A standard that offers full local control, full local pairing, and multiple encrypted fabrics is designed to exfiltrate user data?
Your tin-foil hat is showing! 
I’d certainly agree that the protocol development is glacially slow, but look at v1.4 - it is specifically targeted at stopping lock-in behaviour by certain vendors by mandating multi-fabric pairing.
The process is slow, but at least there is a process, and I live in hope that even the likes of Samsung might implement exporting Matter controls, and not just selfish importing control of other kit - something that can be seen as malicious compliance for SmartThings.
Matter may reduce costs for large vendors - by increasing sales, reducing returns, reducing support calls, and removing the need for one cloud server + app for each device type. Win-Win to my eyes.
The worst I see is the move from ESP8* to ESP32* to add the crypto processor for Matter/ thread will mean secure boot and firmware signing making Tasmota and ESPhome impossible to flash without replacing the chip (something I’ve already had to do to evict Tuya).
My Z-Wave kit is staying, but my cheap Zigbee sensors are getting replaced.
(and yes, I’ve read your posts on CRLs.)
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With matter? Simply NO
In this case (sonoff matter certified device) only ON/OFF control and scenes work locally with matter, everythig else only with APP over cloud with forced account and data sharing! 
Well, again, NO. For successful commissioning the (cloud) DCL needs to be contacted and allow commissioning 
Matter is designed to share data across platforms (connecting apple matter with Google matter and so on) 
Which seems to not be mandatory for a standard matter certification but fits the walled garden approach and seems to be mostly adapted with almost all vendors/manufactures as it allows full control (over the customers device) while at the same time locking the buyer out of their “own” device 
And why are you replacing them if those can coexist?
I will probably start with thread/matter but my old sensors stay. Maybe those will be replaced in the long term, like in 10/15 years.
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I don’t get it either. I rarely agree with @orange-assistant , but they’ve got a very valid point.
Most of those “Special Features” come standard in Z2M. It’s bad enough that most switches don’t even have any decoupled mode support in zigbee due to hardware/software/firmware restrictions, but to close the feature off in Matter after you’ve implemented it is just a dick move.
If you’ve already got the hardware and it’s performing as expected, why would you chuck it out and replace it with something more restrictive? Sounds a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
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I use all of the a ailable technologies atm.
I dislike Matter over Thread because it is IPv6 based, sharing network infrastucture which opens up security risks for everyone except the most tech savvy people. It shares that disadvantage with wifi.
I dislike too that it uses the same crowded transmission band as Zigbee, which is soooo crowded in many places that it leads to all kinds of trouble. Just look at all the people having Zigbee troubles on the forum here:
For Matter over Thread it will be worse because the technology is new and IPv6 comes with its own set of troubles. Commissioning is a disaster, many people struggle with it, way worse than Zigbee.
Z-wave does not have all of these problems. It also has a good system for direct associations. What I dislike about Z-wave is that you cannot seem to be able to buy anything below the €50,= pricepoint.
But all that matters little because I think, as with all technology, that marketing and price will always prevail over the quality of the technology. So our hands will probably be forced towards what the big brands force on us. I just hope it takes some time.
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In my experience, Zigbee kit is cheap and unreliable.
The lack of certification checks leads to lots of hacks to fix issues (I never wanted to learn about quirks files).
Sensors drop off the network randomly (lots of mains powered IKEA mesh routers so not RF), and often need re-pairing after a battery change (e.g. IKEA 5-button remotes, Sonoff temp+humidity sensor).
It took me two months to get Aqara E1 curtain drivers working. Why? After setting up a debug network with a separate coordinator, they worked.
The root cause turned out to be a Lidl mains bulb close to the Yellow acting as a router, but somehow incompatible with Aqara E1 and Aqara pressure sensors. Madness!
(And yes, you can search for my detailed forum post and GitHub issue report.)
Meanwhile, Z-Wave kit works fine after many years (Fibaro firmware updates not included). Sonoff Mini4RM Matter switches work.
It may take a few years, but my target architecture includes Z-Wave, Matter, Thread and no Zigbee.
IMHO, you either pay for certification testing up front, or in sweat later.
Weird. Got 3 Lidl bulbs acting as routers for an Aqara motion sensor & a door sensor. Perfectly stable.
Have the E1 curtain motor being delivered, so can’t speak on its performance. No Ikea stuff because they don’t have shops in my country.
Been running both ZHA & Z2M stably for over 4 years now. Only issue I ever had was with a Tuya usb switch which would disappear intermittently.
Other than that, zigbee has been rock solid for me.
Looking forward to this!
When is the release in Europe expected?
According the first link in the first post
Sales start and local pricing may vary between markets. Please contact your local IKEA market for more information.