[Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo ROM Development] optical10:
Let's help Michy & other Cook's?

I'm new to this thread, but not new to this forum, so having read up to page 100 of this thread I would just like to give my perspective as per my title description.

I have owned many a PDA from the first Compaq iPAQ to the excellent Dell Axim x51V and as an T-mobile AMEO owner I have been waiting anxiously for a winmo 6.1 upgrade from HTC or T-mobile, but alas none is forthcoming. It was by coincidence that I read about this chefs cooking abilities reaching the mainstream bio one of my regular RSS feeds from the gadget sites gizmodo.com or Engadget.com, can't remember quiet which,LOL. Anyway the point is that as an ex-IT manager and gadget freak I would like to give my two ¢ worth having read over the past couple days 100 pages of this thread.

As ralf_pp;2643211 said so eloquently in the quote above, isn't it time that we gave chefs a bit of a rest in our demands for the latest and greatest software when they could be spending their efforts on the winmo OS and core utilities by GPS, SMS and etc functionality being upgraded to respective manufacturers latest patches etc. This would mean that there would be a vanilla ROM upgrade only when necessary, for instance I'm hearing more about winmo 6.5 coming up before winmo 7, meaning a 3 to 6 month testing periods. This would leave more time for the chefs to concentrate on quality functionality testing of potential bugs as reported by all their loyal PayPal subscribers etc. Of course there would be the intermittent skin upgrade in between the major OS ROM upgrades but surely they would only be one or two every six months. As per the comments requests for Diamond, Touch etc themes people could add to their units to try or buy, as per regular theme upgrades software if that's even possible as I am no chef/programmer) so I don't even know if it's possible?

I personally only came here to extend the life of my T-mobile AMEO from winmo 6 to winmo 6.1 before considering switching phones to fill the coffers of the whole manufacturers again and also to test some of the new improved features of 6.1.

Michy is trying to please all of the people all of the time with every revision of his ROM, but let me tell you my friend having read the first 100 pages of this thread are having some IT support experience I can honestly say that you can only please some of the people some of the time.

Why not make a lean mean solid vanilla version of each ROM upgrade, say a 1.2 and a 3.5 SP version and just allow punters to pick and choose which software .cab they would like to install because of their past experience with said software? Am I being naive or does this defeat the point of cooking these ROMs at all, for instance with this lead to larger memory consumption? Also I know I'm also guilty of this, so don't get me wrong, but some of the questions seem to be down to user's lack of functionality knowledge and not related to ROM upgrade functionality. This only adds to the length of this thread and is very confusing to read, although I do admit it is always useful to read such posts for said solutions.

I can now see the advantages of Apple's policy of "hardware and software restricted platform". It makes troubleshooting a lot easier as you know that your punters are on the same playing field but have possibly opted for a particular version number of certified software program or utility. We all are part personal preferences when it comes to on-screen keyboards, Internet Explorer's , GPS and radio software etc and even though we are using the same Athena-based smart phone/PDA there are too many variables to be able to expect Michy's ROM's to work 100% of the time for every subscribing user 100% of the time. Maybe a spreadsheet which software variables and ROM version numbers could be ticked off so we can either emulate Michy’s hardware / software like-for-like and we could help those with various version differences lock down their issues and investigate them more coherently so we all don't fall foul of such frustrating issues?

Anyways Just wanted my voice to be heard in support of ralf_pp;2643211 suggestion on quality over quantity, hell knows the chefs have been doing a sterling job in raising our expectations versus some of the manufacturers blatant couldn't care attitude once they have sold us the phones so why don't we give them a helping hand by taking the pressure off them once in awhile so they can catch their breath!

Hope this helps, don't want to be a party pooper, I'm sure you're ROMs rock and I would like to try them if they were lean and mean vanilla versions so I could add software (of my personal preference) one by one to see how they affect your vanilla ROM one by one over a number of weeks or so.

I have a horrible feeling I have oversimplified my understanding of why people are so hungry for your handiwork constantly but I suppose that's the nature of having the latest and greatest gear these days. Reminds me of XP versus Vista, I suppose they'll get it right in Windows 7 next year, LOL