Connecting a January mini DisplayPort MacBook Pro to the display of a May Thunderbolt iMac

I generally had the impression that Thunderbolt displays will have some level of compatibility with Macs shipped before the Thunderbolt transition which began with the February 2011 MacBook Pros, and awaiting on the Mac Pros. This impression of mine was a reason for purchasing a Thunderbolt iMac as opposed to a DisplayPort Cinema Display and a Mac mini combo. If I buy a Thunderbolt cable, is it possible to connect a mini DisplayPort Mac to a Thunderbolt display, such as that of the Thunderbolt iMacs?
Inevitably, during the transition, we are going to have a mixture of displays and Macs of the two interface varieties. No one is going to throw away everything pre-Thunderbolt, just because they bought a single Thunderbolt product. If not compatible, is there an ETA for the DisplayPort-Mac-to-Thunderbolt-Display compatibility bug fix?

The TB display specifically calls for the System Requirements of a "Thunderbolt enabled Mac"...
From the product specs on Apple's page:  
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC914?mco=MTgwOTQzMzk#overview
BUT!!!!!  You may have been confused by peoples reference to Legacy devices since the new Mac's (w/ TB) CAN be connected to old "Legacy DISPLAYS" (mDP). 
So if you have the older (mini Display Port) display, you can still use it by plugging it into the TB port of a newer Mac (w/TB).
But the opposite is Not true...  Older machines (without TB) can Not power and utilize the newer Thunderbolt Displays.

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