Is thermal compound need on a P4 as it was on a P3?

[jaytone]

Hi
I just came back from a computer show and was told by some vendors that the new P4 does not use thermal compound between the Heatsink and CPU. They said that even if I buy the Retail boxed version of the P4, it only comes with a CPU, Fan and Heatsink and no compound. Is this true ? I know that when I built P3 systems, there was always Thermal Compound used.