Yep, don't believe everything you read on the Internet.

I looked up Next Magazine (where this "shocking" and "true" story originated) and came across info about it on Wikipedia (which I will admit is an equally dubious resource). The magazine seems to be a newspaper along the same lines as the Weekly World News or the National Enquirer, i.e. a very poor place to look for factual information.

I think that hair is from SAU because I seem to recall seeing it there some time ago (but is probably still a poser hair, anyway). The site seems to be down right now so I can't check for what page it's on. I don't know if the people at Peggy just "made" their own version, or whether they used the same mesh.

I can't say this for sure, but I think you would have to bring them through some other kind of 3D modelling program first, at the very least to get rid of extra polys (Poser hair is made to look good after rendering, meaning that poly counts will probably be stupidly high).

It might be possible to make it straight to a Sims 2 format (I don't know, I haven't tried it), but I have a feeling that the file would either not work properly or would bring your game to a screeching halt.

As for Nouk's poser hair, you might want to go to the Poser initiative page or read her posts here for why that isn't happening.

Here's something fun I just found:

http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/Mcr2load.htm

So, yes, you are able to convert poser to Maya, and I'm sure this isn't the only plug-in or program of its type. You will still have to clean up polys (obviously) but I'm sure a plug-in like this makes it much easier to use Poser meshes in a seperate 3D modelling program (feels more and more sorry for Nouk and HP trying to do all this in Milkshape).

Captain Jojoba: I take it that 3DS Max and Maya are better than Milkshape then?...so it would be easier for them to get rid of those lovely neck gaps?

Well, Maya and Max are much better, but I think fixing things like neck gaps aren't that difficult in Milkshape either (especially considering the vast numbers of tutorials that use it as the program of choice!)

The neck gaps say to me that the "creators" aren't bothering to even open up the game to see the mesh in action, so things like neck gaps appear due to poor (or no) testing. Like Nouk said, if you have the money you'll get exactly what you need to convert a poser mesh, so if you don't have the patience or skill (or desire) to create something on your own you probably don't really care how it looks in game.

Considering how similar all of the aforementioned hairs are to the poser
meshes (including XM sims, of course), and how many similar hairs come out at the same time, I'm not convinced at all that they aren't converted meshes even without definite proof.

Keep in mind that HP (I believe) is using milkshape which, while it is a fairly good cheap 3D program, is a sack of crap compared to higher end programs like 3DS Max or Maya. Things that might seem incredibly difficult in milkshape are likely to be a cinch in Maya (especially if you have a system). And trust me, Peggy, Rose et al, are not using milkshape.