I like Symbian. I have a N82 which runs Symbian v3.1, a 5320 Nuron that runs Symbian v5.

The main difference between Symbian and Maemo is easy: Maemo is a computer OS (Linux) and Symbian is a smartphone OS.

Symbian by far has more phone features and is has more stability with those features than any other SMARTPHONE OS.

Maemo, being Linux, is fully open ended to the user and has more linux pc-like customization options than you can shake a manual at!

The only thing that the media has been able to dog Symbian about is its semi-outdated (thats an opinion) UI. I personally don't have a problem with the non touch Symbian but the current v5 (as in pre-N8 Symbian^3) needs two clicks to select almost everything with makes for a slower and less intuitive user experience.

If you are looking for a computer like Maemo experience, Symbian in any form, just like iOS, Android, Windows Mobile and WebOS is NOT for you. All of those I mentioned are phone OSes with their own strengths and weaknesses.

BUT If you are looking for a powerful phone with a stable and mature code base and 3rd party software support, get the N8.

If you are looking for the successor to the N900 with pc like power, wait for the N9 with Meego.

One thing about Symbian, most bugs have been ironed out by years of development. Crazy Hamster runs without issue on my 5230 but I can't even turn up the volume on my N900 without causing Crazy Hamster Maemo to stutter. Since Symbian is a phone OS, you won't have much of a hacker/development community as there isn't any xterm and typically no dual-booting or any of the uniqueness of Maemo and open source development.

Your needs....your choice. If you can, I would say to add the N8 to your arsenal right alongside the N900.....the best of both worlds.