[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Windows Mobile ROM De] Crogon:
Woops!

I guess I stated that incorrectly. Sorry!!

Actually I DO want a custom 'Cooked' ROM. My main purpose of reflashing the ROM is to get rid of all known bugs and bloatware. So I WANT all the custom registry hacks and patches to make everything run smoothly. I want the hacked video drivers (as they appear to currently be stable) and etc..

SO.. I'm looking for:

1) 6.1 OS with fast drivers and all known hacks and patches to have as few bugs as possible. UNLESS 6.1 has introduced some known bugs that can't be fixed (wouldn't surprise me with an MS product). IF there's a bug free FASTER version 5 OS, that will run on the Tilt, I'll be happy with that. :) One time I installed Win95 on a 1.6Ghz T-bird. Power on to fully loaded desktop was like 2 seconds flat. :D

2) bloatware removed so as to free up space, and I assume cleaning crap out of the registry wouldn't hurt with speed. Is there a system cache, and would it be beneficial to move it to the SD card? I've read that moving the IE cache to the SD card is asking for trouble, not sure that there's a concensus on that or if it's just opinion though.

OK.. that's going to get confusing. Scratch that and start over:

1) All known bugs hacked or patched.

2) All known speed enhancements (that don't compromise system integrity).

3) Rip out MS (or HTC ..or both?) crapware that COULD be replaced with faster / more functional counterparts.

4) Optional: pre-installed or at least packaged (cab?) applications to enhance functionality. My priority in applications is utility enhancement. Example: I can download 200 Flash / Java / MAME games to the SIM card some day if I get bored, don't need it in the OS. However, if there's a remedial photo editing utility that will allow me to edit my pics before I upload them somewhere, I want it.

I did manage to stumble across a wiki page last night: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Kaiser_Cooked_ROMs

32 Developers and countless ROMs without any comparison isn't much help though. Can I assume all current ROMs are posted there?

Browsing through them, I recall that Alex's ROMs used to be the last word in ROMs, apparently dutty's were until he switched gears. HyperDragon seems to be terribly popular at the moment, but popular doesn't mean better.

I suppose I could try to gather all the available info into a giant spreadsheet, but the fact that about half the ROMs link out to a feature list is slightly discouraging. I think dutty's list of registry hacks ends in '.. and a bunch of other stuff I forgot', which is TERRIBLY discouraging (when trying to compare features).

Anyway, sorry if I'm rambling on here. Please don't take anything I'm saying as judgemental, I'm sort of thinking out loud trying to decide how best to proceed.

Say, has anybody considered building a CVS tree of sorts? I don't suppose you could have actual CODE stored in a repository without violating some sort of copyright or reverse engineering crap.. but a list of known code changes and etc. would seem to be a good idea. Since neither MS nor HTC has stepped up to the plate over the years, due to corporate greed, some sort of XDA-Dev code change tracking system seems like 'the last best hope' to get a decent OS. Ever.

That's why I'm jumping ship to try out the G1 after this. I don't believe MS will ever invest the effort to give us a 'business class' reliable bug free solution. ..let alone one that's innovative or even exceptional. They're style would lead me to expect them to wait till we have 800mhz handhelds, then 'patch' over top of everything they don't like to make it appear to behave better. ..and of course they would deem it necessary to add another programming layer to the OS to 'increase functionality' (read: bog down the OS).

Yup.. I'm definitely babbling now, so I'll just cut myself short.

I guess my bottom line questions are, Is there a more complete list of ROMs anywhere I should be using? ..or one which already compares all the features, so I don't have to?

Better yet, Is there a ROM build specifically to fit what I'm looking for? I seem to recall Alex's were built somewhat similar, but the newest one is quite old now. Hmm.. there is no Windows Mobile revision list is there? I have no way of knowing which older versions would be good, and when bug patches were introduced and etc.

Oh well, guess there's nothing to do but dive in head first and start putting together the best feature list I can with what resources I have.

Thanks for any help! ..and if you read this whole thing, thanks for putting up with my rambling, lol. ;)