I like the desktop. Having 4 means I can group shortcuts across them, and have a backdrop of the full Milky Way panorama. I take pictures, I have two DSLRs, a Canon for astrophotography and a Sony for daytime use, as well as a cybershot for carrying around with me. I was out walking last week and there was a great sunset - but I had neither of the Sonys. I tried out the n900 as a camera - and it was great, it works just like a camera straight out the pocket. Managed to fire off images no problem. Got home, plugged it into the laptop - ubuntu found it, and opened up an app I didn't know I had, pulled them across to the hard disk. I then reviewed them picked out the best two, and modified some of the levels to brighten the foreground and enhance the brightness, cropped out the edges. I was very impressed - I have taken interesting photos on a mobile before, but very few. The definition and sharpness was quite good. My Sony Clie was pretty good for that kind of thing, but this is clearer, and the colours more natural. Nothing like the cybershot (or the alpha, obviously), but pretty good.

I do find trying to some things awkward when out and about, but I think it is lack of familiarity - and as I get used to using it that will change. One thing I do think that was a missed opportunity was the lack of an HDMI port. The picture on TV is OK, but video needs all the help it can get.

Until something comes out with a 250GB HD, HDMI, 1.5GHz cpu, 2GB RAM, 12 Mpx camera, & external keyboard/mouse connectivity, this will do.

Here's an idea - how about three UXs in one phone? One that is highly configurable, based on gnome or KDE, one that is more or less fixed like Maemo 4 and capable of incorporating new applications, and one that is a pure terminal for CLI? The user could then select to have just one of these installed, or two, or all three, and select which to boot into on startup. A bit like a linux startup screen. I use gnome usually on my computers, but when I installed UNE on the netbook I got bored with it very quick, so stuck a standard gnome on top, then LXDF, and then decided to try Unity as well. Booting to CLI is there by default, obviously.

The desktop themes work really well on the n900.

Mish