[Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo ROM Development] Janis:
I'm going back

I've found lots of things that make me understand why M$ hasn't released 6.5 yet.

The new Start Menu seems to have trouble finding its icons, often enough didn't launch the app underneath the icon, and didn't always run when I clicked my little flaggy window icon. I'm also not getting the plugings I've installed listed in the Today items. Looks like WkTask and (I've tried different apps to rotate) rotation cause lockups. Trying, get this, SKMenu just for task management - I just like to be aqble to see it, and it's wasted space anyway.

I got more lockups than I was comfortable with, twice on fresh boot just trying to use the new Today plugin.

Now, if they decided to make themes, I mean the whole new shebang, a lot easier, and touted WinMo as the customizeable Mobile OS (with the most 3rd party software, etc), they might have something. People might/do put up with the clunkiness because they can make it their own. Making that harder is a step in the wrong direction. Doing a lame imitation (finger freindy is good, but not original. Not even new. And the community of developers have already solved the problem, a thousand times) with a few remotely clever/cute UI improvements isn't doing the trick. 6.5 is not going to be a hot item. We need fresh ingredients so we can cut loose in the kitchen (metaphor, not ROM), not a new design on the frozen pizza box.

Look at Lakeridge software, Buggiest, most memory-hungry stuff I've found (Dave is so incredibly busy in the forum), but people swarm to it.

Although I do have to say, of the initial interfaces of phones and Today plugins I've seen, this is one my 75-year-old mom would get right off the bat. That's saying a lot.

My bet is on Android for the customization/open source trajectory. I'm waiting for the G2.

Not that you wanted all that.

I'm going back to 6.1 tonight. I still use my x7501 as my primary phone (I like to have the big GPS and easy-to-read speadsheets & ebooks with me, not to mention the movies & games), and it needs to be reliable. After four flashes with three hard resets, I can't get this ROM to be stable, but I can't blame the cook.

I have a big Start Menu app, and probably five or six launcher apps already, and I like that I can organize in a grid so I can find it (like I need more thumb room on this gadget....)

I will miss the Today photo option. It's like PhotoContact with just pics. The rest I pretty much have already without the sliding. I'll also miss the multiple slider lock screen. If you can slide to unlock, why not slide to do anything? That was clever. Give me one of those that's customizable. S2U3?

P.S. It's faster than the clean 6.1 I was using, and it has Windows Live so I can set up my hotmail. These are reasons I'm questioning a reflash of the 6.5. instead of going back to the clean 6.1.

I can't get Pocket RAR off the Start Menu. I've tried the Michy organizer, Total Commander (my preference), and it's not there, just in the new Start Menu. I have so much on my device I keep my Start Menu organized in directories with a few apps that I need to get to while I'm on the phone in the "root" Start Menu folder. RAR isn't one of those. --- Update, tried "move to top" and it went away.

Also still running into blank notifications. Sometimes when I change themes while the notification is active, they'll show up where they didn't on the previous theme. Sprite Backup is always blank initially. Phone calls always come in OK. Sometimes SMS's will pop up one good notification, and the next will be white.

I'll just keep adding bugs as they come to mind. SMS's, generally fresh ones, disappear after reboot (that I had to do because of lockup).