[JediMaster]

I know a couple people with this game, but I don't have it yet. I'm waiting for the demo, which apparently is coming out in March sometime.

I've heard it's sort of like the space combat/campaign side of Empire at War without the storyline. I enjoy EaW, but it is getting old now so if this is really the next step in that way I'm interested.

[Gr.Viper]

I do have it (even had to write a review). Once pirated an early beta, then pre-ordered and got acces to all further beta versions and in the end received a full game (Stardock download is 866Mb).
It's not Empire at War... It may look like one but it's not. It's a twisted hybrid of Haegemonia and Master of Orion. I mean, you have real-time, you bomb planets, you see fancy 3D effects.. But. The tech tree is wide and forces one to choose instead of upgrading all you can. The game is of a grand scale (maximum map size - 6 star systems with 60+ planets) and is slow paced - 7-planet system can be conquered in an hour if you're in a big hurry, but at normal pace it would take 5 hours. Pity there's no ship designer but capital ships can be customised a bit as you select their new abilities at level-ups.
Then there are severe restrictions on the number of units you can build and they don't increase as your conquest progresses (you increase cap via research). So you have to balance your fleet - various types of units have their own pros and cons. You'd be surprised how quckly a few squadrons of bombers can destroy a capital ship if you don't protect it with flak frigates. BTW thanks to the fact that tactical and strategic levels are not separated (you just zoom in or out as you please), reinforcemens coming in the middle of a fight are quite common.
The three races start games almost identical but with tech development they get their own features. TEC are traders and get tons of money, Vasari scavenge and loot all raw materials they find, Advent are a sect of religious zealots who really can affect mind of others (you can make enemy's colonies revolt by spreading your cultural influence).
The game's fun, but requires a lot of free time. Hard to stop playing - it's always "one more planet", "one more battle" "one more tech to test"...

Oh... One thing really spoils the fun though. Huge random map - 5 star systems with over 100 planets. 10 players four of which including me are in one team. The bloody randomiser stuffed all of us in only two star systems (leaving 3 empty!) and I got in different system from all my allies with 4 hostile neighbours right at my door. At least I got to test TEC superrocket that wipes entire planet surface with one blast.

[JediMaster]

Yeah, I know a couple of guys who've been playing it semi-obsessively since release. They have over 30 hrs in it already and these guys barely spend any time on their PC in the first place!

Well, I'll definitely try out the demo when it comes out, but I'm not going to buy sight unseen.