I owned an HS2000 for a while. The Springfield is a superior weapon in many ways as it is more refined. There is a very nice review on the sub-compact model in the March/April 2003 edition of American Handgunner. The Croation handgun was a great start but because of substandard advertising it was not as well accepted as it could have been. Springfield has the advertising expertise to make this well crafted weapon a true success.
There were actually 2 generations of the HS that came out prior to joining ranks w/Springfield. The second was much like the first but with an accessory rail built in up front for a light or laser and an inflated price once they saw how fast the fimrst generation went.
Many Glock enthusiasts embraced it as being a brother or cousin to the Glock thus a perfect rugged addition to their stable of shooters especially at the bargain basement price of as little as $249.00 for the early 1st generation guns. Heck, you could buy 4 of these for the price of 1 of the premium weapons on the market. Shoot 1 and sell 3 when the price goes up.
During the height of the HS2000's popularity, Glock Talk was inundated with posts about the HS2000 and then it's own forum started for a while, I don't know if it still exists or not. I would think things cooled off a bit once all available HS2000's were sold.
The sub-compact w/3" barrel retails for $489.00 but may actually cost less in the real world. I have not actually handled one of the XD's but they look aweful perty...If Springfield started with the HS2000, there is no question it's a better gun for it.

:cool