One of the reasons the Jamis is on the list is b/c of the frame as well as the juicy 5's. It seems interesting w/ the carbon seatstays and obviously the brakes are better on the Jamis. But I'm not so sure about the wheels. Overall the Stumpjumper looks like a well balanced bike. Gotta ride em both obviously, but opinions are helpful... hehe.
I'm not too concerned about the fork differences. I've read that the R7 is pretty good, and I'm not a heavy guy so I'm assuming the performance between the R7 and Float would be similar for me.