Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Hey Guys,

I know its early but, can those of you who have successfully downloaded and are using the new OS2008 on the N800 please comment on the good and bad parts of the new OS. What apps work well and which don't. Whats the best features and which need more attention. Any surprises or hidden apps that were not mentioned? Any tricks to make it even better?

As soon as I find a PC to flash I will upgrade and add my two cents. lol :)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

There are at least a dozen good threads on the subject (two of which are on the front page). Why, exactly, do we need another one?

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

GeneralAntilles,

I appreciate your comments. I did a search before I posted. I looked at other threads and they had some useful comments but they were filled with rants about download problems and such.

I'm just trying to get an overall sense of how this new puppy works with users. The nuts and bolts. I don't want others to have to read dozens of threads like I did to get a good overall report card. lol

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

For the few times I've been on this forum I've noticed negative, cynical and non productive comments such as this. Is this common practice? Either make a positive, helpful reply or none at all IMO

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I'm using the OS2008 as is and it's faster and does all I need without a glitch (as was the OS2006 on my so loved 770). I didn't add any application or stuff. Probabilities are high that I will mess with the USB Host mode more than adding applications. (I use the browser for MS-Outlook online and most of the applications I need are web based)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

This kind of comment makes me wish we had a 'No Thanks' button.

To answer the original question: one thumb up.

OS2008 MicroB is much, much better, it now feels about the same speed as Opera on the 770, but it handles Javascript-intensive sites and Flash much better.

A second thumb will go up when more apps are available.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I am on a couple of boards that have become like this. I am afraid to ask something only to get a response that somewhere in the middle of a 157 page thread it was once answered and I should have read the entire thread before asking. I know there are some that obviously didn't search, but sometimes the reprimanding is a little extreme.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

People should also remember to check here:

http://planet.maemo.org

If you don't know, that's where all sorts of IT users' blogs are aggregated -- and there are quite a few posts about OS2008.

-T.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

This is basically my reaction. Overall the my N800 runs well with OS2008 on it. It seems a little faster, smoother, certainly more stable and much more polished.

I am still pretty new to the N800 (I have only had it for about 3-weeks) and most of the applications I was using on OS2007 are available for OS2008, so I certainly feel like the upgrade to OS2008 was worth it.

Cheers! :D

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

That's where I'm at. The overall feel is much snappier, but with the current repository SNAFU I don't have much in the way of apps to make comparisons.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I am really glad some others have started to point out how negative this forum can be. I have thought about getting an IT (already have an OQO, so not sure of the real need), but whenever I read this forum I realize that I will be constantly told "go look back" for almost any question. Sorry, if we are all not Linux experts and sorry if some people are not perfect when doing back searches. This is a FORUM, it exists to help people. Im sure some of the people here get tired of the same questions from "Newbies" but remember without "Newbies" thse devices will just be for you techies and will die since companies like Nokia are looking for mass market. Anyway, thanks to all of you that contribute with helpful thoughts.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Overall, I like OS2008. So I would have to give it a thumbs up.

Only complaint is the fact that they make it too difficult to get root access (I assume becomeroot isn't Nokia's work). To get my 800 to work with my phone, I have to uncomment a couple lines in a configuration file which requires root access.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I love the OS2008. I've only had my N800 for a few months and loved it. There wasn't too much I didn't like about OS2007, but now they've made a great thing awsome.

Visually it's way better! Larger icons make more finger friendly. Everything seems to be a little more faster especially the web browser.

So far I've installed:

Canola 2
Mplayer
Camera
Skype
MaemoSweeper
Battle Gweled
CrazyParking

All of them installed with ease and seem to work pretty good. Canola2 is very nice although I haven't tried to add cover art yet. The photos sections is awsome!

My only issues that I have noticed with OS2008 so far are:

- When I use Mplayer the audio is off a bit from the video when using DivX. I started a post on this already. This kind of sucks because I use my N800 a lot for Divx movies.

- It seems when book marking multiple webpages it will use te same logo for all the bookmarks. I booked marked a local newpaper here and their bookmark was their logo. I then went on to book mark several other pages. When I went back to check them all, they all had the same logo, the newspaper one because I did that one first. So I deleted them all and started over. I found when you bookmarked a page I then closed the web browser, opened it again and then bookmarked a different page. This seemed to work and fix the problem. Not a big deal until you've put in a lot of bookmarks and have to go back and delete them all.

- On OS2007 whenever I pushed a text field with my finger it went to the large keyboard, now it goes to the little keyboard and I have to push the directional pad for it to go to the big keyboard. I've played with the settings and nothing has changed. Not a big deal for me though.

- Although this is not really a problem and more of a pet peeve and it was the same on OS2007, I don't know why the screen comes on when charging the unit when it is turned off. Even though it set to black, the screen is still on and using power. Wouldn't it charge faster if the screen was off?


I know what you mean. There are always a few losers out there that feel they need to be little everyone out there with a question.

" GeneralAntilles" seems to do this in every post. He mentions about wasting his time a lot. If thats the case then why does he always leave smart *** replies? Not everyone is well versed in this stuff and everyone is a newbie at some point. Not everyone literally "sleeps" with their N800 like he does.

So "GeneralAntilles " don't waste "OUR" time with your childish dribble. If you want to answer a question, then go ahead. If not, simply go onto the next.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I'm very pleased with OS2008 on my N800. It seems faster, my battery seems to last considerably longer between charges, and I like the map application a LOT. I have gotten GPE contacts and calendar to work. I have not been able to get Gnumeric or Aisleriot Solitaire to work. When I go to CNN.com and watch a video it seems a lot smotther than it was under OS2007.

Skype and GizmoProject both seem to work fine.

I used the backup program on the N800 prior to upgrading and it remembered my wifi login passwords, bookmarks, etc.

I would give it a thumb UP.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I have to catch a train, but I have time to put two thumbs up. I've downloaded almost everything important to me except Canola.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Actually, this is exactly why the site -- and I mean the site itself -- needs a chat room. (Because no one wants to wade through a 20 page thread for a quick answer.)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I totally agree with you, and other opinions alike. I´m new to Linux, and to internet tablets. I´m waiting my N800 (arrives in january), and I know I´ll need all the help I can get here. GeneralAntilles is always very helpful, and I think he could have been just more polite.

I think the type of forum the iT needs is like the Ubuntu's, that welcomes new users, and has a very helpful community. Even for the noobiest questions they get simple and polite answers. It makes new users more comfortable in the process of learning about a new technology.

Well, thanks for the excellent forum we have here. For us iTableteers , it´s like our home :)

(sorry for my bad english...)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Guys,

Many thanks.
I'm traveling now and as soon as I get to a PC I will definitely install. Based on your comments I can't wait!
I've had this bad boy for several months and it has converted a lot of unnamed fruit buyers when they see all the programs I run and how I can program it anyway I want and buy as many batteries as I want. :)
Any one discover any hidden treasures or come up with new tricks with this update? lol :)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

It's a 45 degree thumbs up from me! The Mozilla browser actually seems MUCH less stable to me --- it consistently locks up my tablet and causes reboots. HOWEVER, I see a lot of potential with this browser moving forward --- it's good for a first-step, and it can only keep getting better! :) :) :)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Whoa... that certainly isn't normal. Are there certain sites you're seeing this on? I haven't tried the entire Web (yet :D) but I haven't see a crash so far, or reboot. Did you happen to restore a backup after install OS2008? Many people have reported problems do to that.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Just installed OS2008 yesterday. I'm coming from a background of having a 770 for about 4-5 months, then just got my N800 which i've had for about 1 week on OS2007, and now OS2008. Wow, its much faster, and I love the interface. The blue glow for email/chats is awesome, and I love how its made much easier for finger use then stylus use. Two thumbs up and two toes as well!

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Off the top of my head, I've had it happen on Yahoo! mail (the newer DHTML version), Google Maps and Amazon.com --- anything that can be CPU intensive. However, it only happened on Amazon.com when I was using GPRS... it's like the N800 freaked out and couldn't deal with doing two major things at once. :S

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Thumbs way up on OS2008, for me. I was having trouble with the filesystem being corrupted in OS2007, forcing me to reflash the device, and I haven't had that issue, at all, in OS2008.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

microb still crashes occasionally but not nearly as often.
i chat on skype a lot, and i can't get the thumb keyboard to come up at all. the middle dpad button doesn't work with skype chat as it does in other aps.
but everything is much faster. i feel as if i just bought a new tablet. these things do way more than any other 200$ gadget. i use this thing with skype as my phone, and i turn my computer on only a couple times a week. i can use transmission to torrent and i'll try hooking it to my 80gb hd based mp3 player when i get the right usb cable. that should take care of storage issues.
the battery life seems about the same as with 2007, although some have said it's longer. the max volume does seem a bit less.
i'm really impressed at how fast aps have been ported.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

A reluctant thumbs down. I'm actually going to downgrade back to OS2007 this evening. I was eagerly anticipating this new release, and I have to credit what a refreshing upgrade it is with regard to visual prettiness, streaming media, and overall system responsiveness. But the new browser is, in my experience, exceptionally slower than OS2007 Opera in all operations (even zooming in), across a variety of web pages. Add to that a point previously made on this thread about the thumbpad needing extra coaxing to appear, and the web browser experience (which enables 90% of my use of the Internet Tablet) is a big step down in the new OS for me. If I could somehow get Opera on OS2008, I'd be happy and probably get over the tweaked touch-responsiveness of the entire system, but as it stands I'm shuffling back to OS2007.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Right, my thoughts, though I only used OS2007 for a week before the upgrade...

1. I don't like the way the menu comes up - on my OS2007 it used to be either a nice compact menu with the stylus or the big menu with a finger... now it is the same big menu with both. - some points.

2. I preferred the old status bar icons - more polished looking ;) but pure MMI so not really something I can complain too much about.

3. Comes with XTerm built in :) + a lot of points.

4. MicroB is alot better in the new incarnation.

5. Mail still can't cope with gmail imap.

So in summary, one thumb up but its wavering abit...

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Been using N800 for 6 months. Using microb since beta came out for OS2007. Default Opera browser did not properly render many of the sites I regularly visit. Big thumbs up for microb improvements and overall system responsiveness in OS2008. I have never had microb crashed on me in OS2008 yet. And a big Yay and thanks for porting adblock to microb.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I originally had the n800 a year or so back when they were us$400-500. while it was good I couldnt justify the coin and moved it on. Was looking at the n810, but due to its memory change it simply wasnt/isnt worth what they are selling for. Then i heard the os2008 would be available for n800 and looked at the price now @ around us$200 now thats value for money.
Glad I bought it, it will only be a internet browser for me and a fun little toy, i really like the new os its easy to use, unlike all those commands of the last system. Suits me just fine.
Id recommend anyone to buy one and upgrade at this price

ps agree about the negativity of quite a few members here, its a forum, and if you dont like what people ask, just move on, do you realise there are more and more new users everyday and a quick answer to maybe a repetitive question can save so much time
The new users ask for a layman term answer, which is what all the other new users want

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

This is what you want.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I give it 2-thumbs up since it's faster and more responsive than the OS2007.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I agree with most; why bother to write these useless remarks if you don't agree with the thread? :confused:

On topic: For the most part, OS2008 gets my thumbs up. Some minor issues remain though.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Oh, I know about #maemo, but IRC is hardly consumer-friendly, and #maemo is really geared for the developer community.

What Reggie should do is set up a special itT Meebo Room, and then embed the chat room on a page *on* internettablettalk.com so users don't have to fire up an extra application they've never heard of just to ask a simple question -- the whole idea is to make asking a chat question easier and faster that submitting a one-line post.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

IRC is very easy to use, and #maemo addresses all sorts of concerns related to the platform and the tablets—not just developers. If they really are having trouble with IRC, then a Java client like the one from freenode will work for them.

We already have a Jaiku feed cluttering up the homepage, we don't need another chat applet of some sort on there. #maemo is easy to get to and filled with people who know what they're talking about. Why try and move the help discussions away from where the knowledge is?

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I would disagree with you very strongly about IRC, Java, and the immediate accessibility of both. (The curt answer would be, if IRC is so easy, why is there such a market demand for web chat?) As long as itT doesn't help the average user get to the chat from within the browser, the vast majority will not bother to take the extra steps to join in. In addition, would you actually want the hundreds of guests that hit the site to be piped into #maemo? Of course not, you'd want them to go into a new channel, like #maemo-help or #maemo-newowners -- the IRC experts know how to log into multiple rooms, so no problem.

This is the fundamental problem of this kind of device. As this device begins to move into the mass-market, non-hobbyist space, it's going to attract users who don't know about IRC, who don't know what a repository is, and who are generally less computer-savvy than those already on this forum. And when novices and experts collide, it ends up becoming a culture war. Case in point: http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=13481

Most users on the web treat forums like chat. So why not just give them chat? Why not add features to the site that draw away unwanted forum activity into systems that can handle them better? To wait for people to suddenly learn how to use forums properly is like a postman waiting for the mail to stop coming. There will always be more novices than experts coming in, and the curve will only increase as the tablets gain popularity. The only other option is to go private, and put up a barrier to registration.

As for Jaiku, I would like to point out that I hate that it's there. It's another post-comment structure that detracts from the site forums, and furthermore, ever since Google bought Jaiku they've turned off new-user registration, so re: my point on how to help suffice brand new IT owners who have easy questions, offering a system that they can't participate in does absolutely nothing to help them.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

So I picked up the I-Blue 757 GPS for my Nokia. Didn't take long to get it connected, and ran the included MAPS with OS2008. So far so good, then I noticed the option for NAVIGATION (free for 7 days). All I can say is DAMN! I didn't expect this! All the maps, different voices, wow. The N800 just became a WHOLE lot better.

Does anyone know what the price for the navigation software is on its own?

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

I was runing the os2008 beta and now i am on 2008 release .. I give it 2 thumbs pluss my wifes thumbs !! UP .. It is so much faster . over all all the apps i need has been ported over or aleast some of the 2007 apps still work. I just hope we see a flash player that will let us use are video camera and mic for sites like justin.tv youtube and so on. Aleast with 2007 the Mic was listed on flash . now no mic or video is listed ...


Other than that it just rocks ... 2008 *****

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

Hey Guys,

Great comments, very helpful for all, especially me. :)
I finally upgraded to os2008 and wow!
I went to the Nokia NYC store and they upgraded me for free and helped me with add ons. I felt like I was at the fruit bar. :) The store is great to look at and the staff is very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.
Things I love. The new player rocks! My movies now play with no skips. Camera works nice. Skype is awesome!
They also connected me to Google Talk so I could video conference!
The screens and menus are much better.
They added email and connected it to gmail which is great!
The photo player still needs work because it takes too long to load all my photos and it still misses some pics when I move from picture to picture.
Overall I have new machine.
I'm going to add the GPS next because of the great comments about it.
I've also bought a d-link travel router that is amazing. I travel a lot and hotels always have ethernet ports but no wireless for N800. I just plug it in and instantly I have wireless not only in my room but outside the room for about 100 feet.
Verdict: Two enthusiastic thumbs way up!!!
Developers and those who helped in this upgrade should be very proud of the work you have done. Keep it up. Dan lol :)

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

The new OS is great! I've used N800 since April and the upgrade feels like a whole new device. Fast and responsive. I love the new themes with transparency. I have the Navicore kit that I upgraded to Wayfinder. Tomorrow I'll be testing it on the road with voice guidance and all.

As for the apps I kind of settled on the built in ones plus handful of third party and web for everything else (mail, calendar etc.). The apps I find indispensable: FBReader, Evince (haven't installed it on OS2008 yet), MPD Client for Meamo, Vagalume and now Canola 2. The new built-in media player with directory of streaming servers is awesome.

I wish there is a solid solution for remote music streaming ala Orb or Webot (maybe someone has a good solution?). I don't find current web clients much satisfactory. I tried MP3Tunes desktop applet but it never worked for me and had a nasty habit of wiping all the other desktop applets away.

Since Mythv is my main media center I was very excited with the effort around GMyth but I'll have to give it another go since I've never been able to get it to work. I'm looking forward to the Video Center again and what features come next.

The repo situation was a bit out of control for the last couple of days, but nothing to lose sleep over.

Overall, very good upgrade.

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

According to The General, it seems we are all newbies and should just go away. Sorry dude, but your attitude in almost all of your posts (that I have read, and I have read quite a few) is negative or obtuse towards the poster.
Please attempt to understand the pure ignorance on some users' parts. There is no need to be on the offensive until you have been offended.
And for your retribution's sake, please remember that I have not been in this forum posting for more than a day myself. Fortunately in my defense it shouldn't be any trouble dealing with anything you can dish up. (Now who's on the defensive?):rolleyes:
Anyway, back to the thread at hand. Great idea as I was about to start one myself but did a search first :D

OS2008 on the N800:
Pros:
Sexy interface and desktop themes (really nice clock too).
Skype works perfect here.
Radio and Camera apps work great.
Canola 2 works, with minor caveats.
GPE Calendar works.
Browser works better, faster, and with lots more support.
Device feels faster than OS2007.
YouTube Works, fast! So does webmail/online banking/webadmin GUI
Map application included (cannot get the map files for east coast).
More finger-centric menus (but finger-centric menus do not extend to app menus).


Cons:
Finger sense for thumboard seems crippled.
Browser says "connecting.." at lower right sometimes but never does. This could be just my device hanging.
Repositories are not responding properly (not OS2008's fault).
Less application compatibilities, for 2k7 only.:mad:

Re: Thumbs up or down for new OS2008 for N800
 

The price for North America on their site (if I'm looking at the right product) is $130 for 36 months. Don't really know what that means for existing owners of Navicore. Are we going to need to pay again after 3 years?