Does Ketron intend to have all qualities of SD7 and SD9 be equal , through the use of o.s. Updates, less # of keys? What are major differences for out of the box players?

No.

And as to the second question?

The interface of both SD7 and SD9 is very similar. The biggest differenc is the low compresion audio of the styles on the SD9 which gives a much bigger, live sound than the SD7. The SD7 compresses the Audio more and the loops are shorter, as you would expect to find on a Roland or Yamaha high end arranger. This is great if you are a style hunter as the audio styles can be mixed in with older tech midi styles and the audience will not notice the difference so much

for a list of technical and feature differences its best to compare the brochure specs side by side.

Hmmm....like the idea of the fuller sound but want only 61 keys..

Functions/KEYBOARD SD9 Pro XX SD40/80/7 XX Midjay Pro
* Keys 76 Semi w XX N/A/butt/61 XX N/A
* LaunchPad Yes XX N/A XX N/A
* Sequencer Yes (12tr) XX N/A XX N/A
* Speakers N/A XX NA/4/4 XX N/A
* Live Audio Drums Yes XX N/A XX N/A
* Audio Drums & Grv Yes XX Yes XX Yes
* Live Audio Guitar Yes XX No XX No
* AJAMSONIC KIT Yes(opt) XX Yes(opt) XX Yes(opt
* STYLE CREATOR Yes XX No XX No
* LIVE MODELLING Yes XX Yes XX No
* AUDIO/MIDI PLAYER 2 XX 1 XX 1
* Audio/MIDI Drum Sync Yes XX Yes XX Yes
* Live Filter Graph XX Param XX N/A
* Separate Lead DSP Yes XX No XX No
* Aux. output Stereo XX Mono XX Mono
* Audio files syn-MIDI Yes(3) XX No XX No
* STYLES 590 XX 290 XX 190
* AJAM up-gradable Yes XX Yes XX Yes

And others you can compare on the brochure...

Thanks,