I accept any kind of multitasking that does the following things
1. Make absolutely sure that when I leave the app to go look or copy something, it will come back in the exact state it was before, to the last char.

2. If I background the application while doing something (loading, downloading, computing) it continues to do so while I read the web or something.

I don't really care if the above is caused by real or very well done fake multitasking but this is what I want, and I have found that maemo-like multitasking fits the description because, while both of the above can be done on android, on maemo the os takes care of that instead of relying on the application developer (more consistency)

So my understanding is this: Most people who prefer "real" multitasking have some similar requirements and have seen that maemo works as it should (with the added bonus that the switcher is nearer to the user than the launcher or the desktop at any given time) and try to put the difference with android into words.

The difference however at a first glance is not so obvious. Thumbnails here, thumbnails there. Switcher here, switcher there (on 3.0+ switcher is one click away). What seems to be the difference is whether the thumbnails are live, which as a sideffect guarantees my above two points. Live thumbnail means that the gui is still there in memory so it makes sure nothing has changed to the app interface (1) and that operations that change something in the thumbnail continue to run while in the background (2).

So while I agree that watching stellarium alternate day and night through the thumbnail is pointless, it's pretty adequate to prove that multitasking as I need it is in fact there and working.