Well, for looks I much prefer the white allergy scheme. I pass the DC14 yellow / DC15 animal models in the shops most days and each time I think yuck, the allergy scheme is miles ahead! So I'm glad they've revised the looks with the new ranges - DC12plus, DC16, DC17, DC18.

The yellow and grey which has always been the original colour for the base models is getting a bit dated!  I love the new colour setup on the latest models!  They give them a much more engineered look!
 
We will just have to wait and see what the DC17 is like!  We don't know until its launched!

I don't know if anyone else has looked on the UK Dyson web and looked under the Customer Service part and select the 'Using my Dyson' and select uprights and then DC18 and go through some of the tips etc.  You will see the whole cleaning head detaches from the main part of the cleaner where 'the ball' is!  There is a flexi tube that runs next to the ball part!  It must pivot where you detach the head!
 
Interesting!

Here's a bit of info I got from the UK Dyson Helpline on the DC18 when I called them to get details on it!
 
The DC18 has 190 air watts (although the UK webiste says 200!), it has 2 motors, one for the brush bar and one main one for the suction!  It has the same 1200 watt motor as the DC15 The Ball.  I'm told they class the DC18 as the next version of the DC15 The Ball, learning from the DC15! I'm told the DC18 is even more flexible than the DC15 to steer and move around and use. An improvement on the DC15!
 
The cleaning performance is the same as the DC15. I was told that the person on the helpline said they had a DC14 and DC15 and their DC15 cleaned better and picked up dirt the DC14 left behind on a certain rug!  Could be that improved brush bar! Between the two I'm told you can't tell that much differance!! We will see!
 
From feed back on the DC15 they have created the slim DC18 with more advanced improvements!  People found the DC15 bulky and not easy to steer and with the external hose to the head making it hard to clean under cabinets etc! This could only be done on one side (or use the tools) due to that external hose.  
 
It's not a full ball but 'cigar' shaped I'm told giving better move ability!  Because it not a full big ball, the motor is not inside it but at the bottom like other dyson models. The hose to the cleaning head is now an internal part of the cleaner and sits at the bottom!  
 
Also due to problems with some customers with the motor that powered the brush bar over heating and the thermal cut off cutting in, you would have to wait for 2 hours for it to reset and cool down!  The DC18 has a new thermal cut off!  If it over heats and cuts off there is a reset button you can press to reset the brush bar motor to carry on using the vacuum!  The whole cleaning head this time comes off (as I thought it did!) from the machine for easy checking for blockages etc!  I'm not sure if the metel soleplate remains on the model!
 
It will not be available in the shops until the 23rd October 2006!  Brochures are not yet available on the DC18 (or DC16) but are on there way!
 
With a detachable cleaning head this could open up possibilities to attach other tool options like a specially design hard floor cleaning head! (Bitlike a Kirby!!) I've always thought Dyson could design a detachable cleaning head and here we have it on the DC18!  There must be some connection though for the motor for the brush bar!
 
This could prove a popular model here in the UK!
 
So this must be the replacement for the DC03!

The way things are going it looks like 2007 will be the Year of the Dyson....