Different spinodal hypotheses are discussed. An analysis of experimental results shows that the passage of the classical spinodal has a marked influence on the rate of the initial decomposition of supercooled homogeneous alloys both when the decomposition is continuous, as in the AuPt-alloys, and when it takes place at the front of a discontinuous precipitation, as in AuNi-alloys. The preference of the discontinuous to the continuous precipitation in AuNi-alloys at high temperatures is made understandable by a discussion of the activation energies of different types of diffusion.