I installed OS2008 last night. It was pretty straightforward, but I wonder if I can/should turn off the dev mode that was activated in the install process. I get a lot of diagnostic info during boot.

The lack of ported apps is a problem, although presumably time will solve that. I had forgotten how truly awful the standard mail client is, particularly in IMAP mode. The apps I miss most are Skype, Claws Mail and AisleRiot Solitaire. Maemo Mapper is gone and the Navicore mapper can't seem to download the 700-megabyte eastern US maps. (I don't have a GPS anyway.)

So far I have not been able to connect via Bluetooth/GPRS, which may be the OS or T-Mobile's fault. Can't tell. And the Bluetooth daemon was eating CPU like mad last night, forcing a reboot.

I was able to install Python, Pidgin, Kagu, UKMP, et cetera after adding the appropriate repositories.

The UI is visually MUCH nicer and the transparent applets are cool. I can't tell much about speed; it may be faster but 20 percent isn't going to make your socks roll up and down. I'm really happy to see Nokia moving in the direction of a standard release for both 800 and 810, and look forward to the "real" release.