I had the impression you wanted fullscreen-only applications because that's what all users want, anyway, according to your market research. You named Canola as an example. I can't check right now, I never leave Canola installed on my tablet because its complicated interface drives me nuts, but if I remember correctly, you cannot choose with Canola. It is full screen an full screen only.

Anyway, I don't believe Nokia will offer such things as "default settings" that can be changed. Maybe I'm too pessimistic here, but I'm really, really pissed by the way they handled the transition to thumb-sized UI-Elements. When I got my first 770 with OS2005, things were cool. On the home screen, I had 4 applets. The RSS applet would show roughly twelve headlines at a glance. The contacts applet, which I mainly use as a roster for online contacts, would show almost all of the people I regularly chat with. And still there's be room for a clock and internet radio.

With "finger-friendly" OS2008, I have four (!!) headlines from the RSS reader and can choose only five contacts for display on my home screen. And that's it then. No room for any more applets. (Same with giant menus, scroll bars that take away space even though I use a stylus etc.)
The value of the device really decreased for me because of this. It's not as good as it was before.
Did Nokia offer a choice? Can I go to the system settings and say "no finger-friendly balderdash, please, I want information"? No. Although I guess it would have been easy as a system-wide setting.
So: No, I don't believe Nokia will do this. I'm pissed, really pissed, and I don't trust them any more on this.

I really envy you because you obviously have access to all these secret information from expensive market research. You know that users want full screen applications. You know that people don't go back in browser history more than 1 page. You know that people don't adjust volume/brightness. All these things. I wonder: Do the people who paid for this survey agree with your posting their findings in a public forum?

I don't have access to all this data. I can only say what I want. I do not want full screen apps because I always need the panel to switch between applications.
And while we're at it:
I don't want to "attract new users", either. (You guessed it, didn't you?) Who am I? Nokia's marketing droid? I am the consumer, not the producer! And I don't get some weird sexual satisfaction out of the fact that my favorite toy's market share is bigger than XX or at least increasing or whatever a fanboys goal might be. I want a product that works for me. If Nokia can't deliver, I'll buy elsewhere. If they can (and right now they still can), I don't care if millions of others buy what I buy.

Oh, yes, there you write it yourself.
I just wonder why you seem to be so obsessed with Nokia's sales figures and the number of new users one could attract by doing this or that.

As I said, if Nokia really dumbs down this promising platform the way that was suggested here, you're right: The N800 will be my last tablet then. I'd probably go for a slightly larger netbook then or wait and see what happens on the MID-front...

... just that what you call "user friendly" is aggressively hostile to me. (I bet you find the finger-sized menus and large scrollbars more "users friendly" than the old, small ones.)
And I wrote above why I see immediate devaluation: Those new UI-elements can't provide the same functionality as the old ones and there's no way to get the old functionality back.

Why would I want to do it sequentially???
I do it pretty much this way on my cell phone, but, as I said, not because I want to but because I need to - and it's inconvenient.

Seriously: Why? Are you getting paid by sold item or what?

I gain nothing if the usability improves for others and gets worse for me (as it happend with OS2008).
I am an altruistic person. I donate. I help people. I step back if I feel others deserve something more than I do. But I do not see the point of having a bad user experience myself only to be able to say "Wow! Look at the market share it gained!"

This can always happen. There can be a new manager in charge tomorrow in Finnland and he can kill the NITs for good just for personal reasons. You never know. The NITs could die because of your proposed UI changes. Or in spite of them. And guess what? It doesn't matter. Just overcome your fear of big shops and see what alternatives we have right now. Then go and read what there'll probably be in 6 months.

Is it? It's neat, but its nothing more than a way to emulate a mouse. A netbook with some touchpad-style thing instead would serve the same purpose. I'm not passionately in love with the touchscreen.