This was an interesting, if grammatically challenging, read. I've had an n9 for 1-2 months now (and the n900 prior for nearly 2 years) and agree with some of the OP's thoughts, in particular the dismay at the multitasking interface. On the n900, when I wanted to change apps OR launch something, I'd take the following steps:

- Press top left corner multitasking screen
- Pick app to switch to OR pick 'desktop' to get to a homescreen OR tap again to get to app launcher
- Launch or do whatever I want

On the n9, it's:
- Swipe the current app away
- Now, if you're at the app screen, pick the app to run (from the gigantic grid of hard to parse icons); but, if you're at the multitasking screen, pick the other open app you want to switch to. At this point, you may be done. Except...
- If you wanted to be at the app screen but you wound up at multitasking, or vice-versa, you need to figure that out and swipe again
- Pick the thing you want

I hate that I get unreliable/unexpected results from this behavior. I don't know if I'm going back to the multitasking screen or the launch screen. I liked the predictable behavior of the n900.

Also, I loved arranging my launcher icons on my n900's homescreens in a way that made sense to me visually. The n9's app launcher grid of a billion colors and tiny text is just visually very confusing. I still feel like I hunt around for the camera app or the gallery, and I can't figure out how to organize everything since it's an enforced grid. On my n900, I made an 'app launcher' homescreen that was rows of apps in a pattern: there was a shape to it and I could space it out to group things together that belonged together. More importantly, if there was an app I didn't use much, I didn't need to have it on a homescreen! I'd just access it whenever I wanted from the hidden-away app launcher menu.

Finally, does anyone else find the app launching icons all sort of... random? They all seem stylistically different, and they're too colorful. I liked the simplicity of the n900's app icons. I honestly couldn't figure out why the gallery icon isn't just a picture of a photo like on the n900 until my girlfriend exclaimed 'what do you mean, the flower makes perfect sense!' She showed me her iPhone and it was all clear - the icons are copycats of that! They make less sense to me, though.

I wish the n9 would let me make my own app launching screen for the 8 apps I most commonly use and then let me tap something to get at 'everything' if I ever need to.

I feel like these two problems are the n9's biggest downfalls and steps, nay, leaps backward from the n900. I've learned to live without a keyboard, without a shutter button, without the slide-to-launch-camera lens cover... but I still can't get past the general confusion when I stare at the n9's launch screen or try to multitask.