Hey all. I've had a rooted HTC Dream (G1) here on Tmobile in the USA for about a year. I'm no programmer or engineer, but I've managed to get by and the device has been fun to learn about. Now that i'm disappointed by the Nexus One, I'm leaning towards either the N900 unlocked or the HTC HD2 which is going to run WinMo 6.5 or 7.0. My question is this... How user un-friendly is the Maemo 5.0 for a Linux newb, and will the phone get me by as a day to day device? This entire forum seems to reveal nothing but bugs the OS has, moreso even than when the HTC Dream and Android launched. Any advice from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

coming from andriod the maemo OS should be easy to use. The bugs aren't as common as it may seem, I havent seen any major bugs on mine so far. If you're just going to use it for fun then its very user-friendly, it only gets complicated when you go into the terminal and try some programming. I like the interface a lot better than android

Thank you very much. I just see in so many reviews it got that "best for early adopters" tag... But then again so did Android when it launched.

Have you ever used a WinMo phone? Which would you recommend (I'm not a business user / power user, strictly recreational and a tech lover).

yeah ive used windows mobile and I like it but its wayy to slow for me. I gave up on windows mobile after the htc touch pro (incredibly slow). I would never recommend a windows phone unless its the HD2 because it has a fast processor so windows mobile wont lag on it. I like winmo because of all the custom roms and customizations. The top three phones for me right now are the nexus one, n900, and HD2. The reason I didnt choose the HD2 is because its big, VERY expensive, and I windows interface isnt very attractive. It has a capacative screen so that might be interesting to use with windows, but I think it might be awkward since windows has a lot of small buttons. I chose the N900 over nexus one because it was cheaper, has a keyboard, the interface is amazing, and overall looks better IMO. I'm also not a big fan of HTC phones, they always have a bad feel (feels cheap). Nokia n-series have good build quality and feel good in the hand. Im not a business user either, im just like you so I would recommend the N900 for you. Don't worry about all the bugs, it's nothing big anyways. When i first got the N900 i didn't expect too much from it because of all the reviews. They said its big but I dont think its big at all, I think it just seems thick because its small in height, but its no problem in my pocket. the keyboard is also great, i didnt find it cramped at all. it easier to type than my n97 mini and i can type fast without making mistakes. in the end, the N900 came out to be a lot better than I expected based on all the reviews. ( a lot of negative reviews of it out there)

I am no programmer, and haven't had any problems with my phone. It works great, and no bugs...

PS. People will always complain and write about the bad, before they write about the good.

Are there enough apps in the Ovi store and in various forums to make the phone as functional as some of the other OS' that are more established in the US?

I've used the HTC WinMo 6.1 and 6.5 devices (TouchHD, Diamond2 etc) as well as Nokia N95, 5800 etc Symbian phones as well as using my friend's iPhone 3GS. To me, N900 is the best out of them all.

It's very user friendly. My friends figured it out pretty quickly. My sister was using the N900's camera and sending the pics to herself via bluetooth all by herself on the very first go. (She's VERY far from being an IT girl) Like any new OS, it has a learning curve but it's very easy to get used to. Nothing special compare to any other phone. Even the iphone has a learning curve not too different. (Well, it's more confusing in certain aspects such as you can't just transfer mp3's etc over bluetooth from other phones/pc)

As a phone, it does the job nicely. Everything works as it should. Nothing too surprising really. As a web browser, there's really no competition to the N900 currently. Also, the video playback capability is second to none. Plays nearly everything you throw at. (Except for HD resolution vids)

GPS/Maps isn't as strong yet. Just weak software. Hardware is fine. Expect Sygic navigation software to appear soon and you can still always use google maps. (through browser just like any desktop pc)

Music player also isn't a strong point. Audio quality is fine, but there is no equalizer on it yet.

There are tons of apps / mods in the current maemo.org repositories to keep you busy for weeks however. So hopefully by the time you find out about most of the stuff here, there should be a new firmware update from nokia, ovi store will open and more apps/3rd party apps appear.

All up, I expect it to be much more full featured (by firmware updates / more apps) within 6 months.

Coming from a palm centro I have had to give up a lot of the basic functions like; syncing categorys; notes for tasks; searching PIM data and one handed operation of the media player. had my n810 touch screen still been in action I wouldn't have made the switch.

But I am dependant on RDP SSH tunnel, something Droid cant do yet. another push away from Droid was the inadequate search of PIM data like notes. to my surprise the n900 was worse! (I was expecting simbian function as the base) and despite all the cool hardware on the HTC my past habits have helped made Microsoft the monopoly it is and cant bring my self pay my hard earned cash to alienate my self any further. (not to mention I have the same relationship with Google except they don't charge me cash yet.)

All in all I think the open nature of the n900 has made it my device of choice and I believe its shortfalls will be made up through community participation. (but with out full PIM function, syncing and search, the phone will become dead quick - so i am on tenter hooks at the moment.)

I'm not a business user, PIM would be...? Another question is, since my Android usage I've kind of moved my online life to a Google-based existence. Can I sync my Google contacts and calendar easily to the N900?

You aren't just getting a device when you buy an N900, you are getting in at the start of an adventure. You can help shape the N900 to be what you want it to be -- it's like getting a new computer; there is lots of stuff installed, but the best is yet to come. I don't find any particular problems in running it -- just don't go mad with power and you should be ok.`