The problem is the app manager basically runs of repositories and ALL the apps are FREE. Thus merging them is probably not a good idea.

However making it LOOK like they are merged would probably be better, so enhancing the app manager so that normal apps install no problem - BUT the paid apps are pulled from the Nokia OVI store and also shown there.

However this also presents problems, because I think the app manager is open source and as such could be easily circumvented to install apps free, this may also be the same with having each application have a license key.

It's not as easy as you make it sound - there are many things to be considered before Nokia proceeds.

For the time being it works fine - so stop complaining and let the Nokia developers do their work, stop pestering them, software development takes time. THis is the umpteenth thread from noobs saying I wish Nokia did this or that - Nokia will make this N900 better than the N97, it's just going to take time. Just enjoy it - within 10 days of asking for a feature some developer will start making creating it! I've had my N95 8GB for 2 years+ and I've not seen an app that can disable the red LED while recording, last week someone requested this and this week I'm using using it, the N900 can do things all other phones can only dream of! (although I miss MMS, video calling and a proper GPS app - but there is no way on this earth Nokia will not implement those features, it's all about time)

There is a fine line between having the N900 user friendly for the average joe with an IQ of 10 can use, and the developers who use it.

Stop complaining and see how much better the N900 is than ANY other phone!