[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] quicksite:
( OFF-TOPIC: about flashing ROMS to upgrade the OS shipped with phone)

Much speedier. And for smaller-processor phones like mine (T-Mobile WING), it is virtually required to run things like ifonz and not have various apps freez. I tiptoed around the "should I switch to a new ROM" issue for a whole year before I dove in and flashed my phone's ROM* (a ROM is the WindowsMobile operating system + packaged apps and utilities) . The flashing documentation on this site is so convoluted and disparate (because of so many phones), with some of it significantly outdated as well, that this jigsaw puzzle of information is what makes what is really an easy process into a very complex and intimidating one.

I'm too tied up with work right now, but in a few weeks to month, I would be able to help you. Simplified to the max: If you have a newer phone from last few years (shipped with windows 5 and 6), you'll be good to go. 99.9% you won't hurt your phone, and, should you need warranty work done on the phone, it can easily be restored to the way it shipped to you, thus no one's the wiser re any software changes you were using on the various XDA site ROMS.

If phone was bought pre-Windows 5, then it's a bit older and you have to check your device's specs to see if it can go thru certain processes. Most can.

That process is called HardSPL and it's done only after all your data has been archived. It has never been impt for anyone to understand what it is, other than this: it's an optional "prep-install" you do to your phone that wipes your device free of the shipped OS, and unlocks your phone to accept any of these future ROMS. (There is another method but it defeats the whole purpose of this site with its constant upgrades, so i don't mention it). The process takes about 15 minutes.

After the phone is "prepped" with that process, then it's ready to accept any ROM that has been designed for your phone. This used to be complicated, but so much has been automated now, you just run a "wizard" application and it takes the ROM file and installs it onto your phone, takes 10 minutes which is simply a file transfer thru USB cable. Just a normal "status bar" that shows the % completion. It shows the identical completion status on the phone as it does on the PC.

When it's done, you're done with the PC. Now the phone has the new software but it's like any application you download. It has to install itself on your phone. This is all automated. You just hold a few buttons down on your phone for a second, which tells the phone to run the installer you just transferred from your PC to phone. This will take about another 5 minutes max. And then, you will see the familiar "align screen" prompt where you touch your stylus in the 4 corners of screen, then the rest of that normal windows process and then you get your today screen. And it's done.

I just wanted to write the steps in consumer language, without any of the jargon that is the intimidating part.

Yes, as you read the jig-saw puzzle jumping all across the site with various threads about flashing, you will see the dire warnings, and the "oh my god"s, my screen is all white. Probably 49 out of 50 times, someone hasn't read the instructions and doesn't realize that a certain event is completely normal part of the automated wizard process. And in the 50th case, if something got botched it is almost always user error, and the pros at XDA can restore the process so you can start over.

There will always be some tiny risk, but that happens every day in life. There's also a risk your phone gets stolen (like in your case), or that it drops, or that the phone was a lemon in the first place with a defective part.

It's really safe to do, and the differences are very noticeable.