understand that the OS2007 will not be ported. I find this quite bizarre, surely the hardware specific elements can be accounted for and disabled as needed..?

However. What I do want to know is if the software such as skype, the newer browser etc will be ported to the 770. If so, that's fine, if not, it's a complete sham.

Ari Jaaksi says they are going to look again porting at least part of OS2007 to 770. Unfortunately he is talking about developer only version. I still have hard time to understand what this excatly solves.

Edit: I would be willing to pay little for os update for 770 to cover licencing fees that porting os2007 to 770 would create.

Invicta: it's good news; it means developers can more easily release software which works on both devices.

No, the 770 might not get updated Opera and Flash, but more of the open source components and their APIs may make it back. This'll make it much easier for developers.

They will eventually probably do that - as it simplifies their maintenance issues. Unlikely for the 2007 release, but it would be poor management if they don't build 2007.1 to cover all hardware...

Don't hold your breath - porting the system specific kernel and driver components is likely, and porting the plain system apps is so trivial that it will probably be done by the community if Nokia is not fast enough.

But integrating feature addons of the third-party binary apps is much less likely to happen. That features were missing at all was mostly due to hardware constraints in the 770 (low memory, no FPU, no GL, codec limitations), and that the N800 has new features (in its software) is mostly due to the fact that the improved hardware does not need quite as much stripping from the more or less x86/desktop-centered codebases of the third party vendors.

I'd be very surprised if the 770 ever saw flash movie support from Adobe, or a more complex build of Opera that does not stall and crash even faster than the current one due to "out of memory" situations...

Sevo

As I'm not developer, I understand this helps developers using 770 to develop for N800. But I don't know is there something in this that would help those developers who are using N800 to develop for 770, unless Nokia releases it to consumers also?

I think it's fantastic how quickly Nokia, Jaaksi and his team reacted to the criticism voiced by the community, and is, IMHO, doing their best to respond to it a constructive way, within the limitation of the software, hardware, licences, corporate culture and what not. I personally raise my hat (wait, don't really own one.. ) !

I'm very disappointed with nokia in the break down compatibility, and, like they did it with the 770, they will do the same in 1 year to make the newer nxx0 a tablet with phone.
Yes, we know that Nxx0 are not a phones, but think with the upcoming MAC IPHONE, it is a phone + ipod + internettablet!

That's an assumption. I still maintain it's a mistake to assume that, going forward, new devices will impact the N800 in the same manner that the N800 impacted the 770. Remember, the 770 was the "feel out the market and get feedback" device; the N800 was the (partial) result of said feedback. I am confident that the N800 platform greatly solidified the feature set and reduces the probability that it will be "rendered obsolete" by its successors. Changes from this point forward are likely to be much smaller than those incorporated into the N800.

It's possible, but this is not what I had understood when I first saw the N770 and the maemo platform.

I'm sorry, but if I buy another tabletpc, I think it would be x86 compatible and/or a UMPC.
I don't want to be a laboratory rat for Nokia.

I should preface this by saying that the 770 I own was purchased to fill a niche need; portable internet access with similar functionality to a desktop computer. Anything above and beyond that needs to make large leaps and bounds before it'll garner my attention again. I'm not sure the N800 has done that, though admittedly I'm paying it only mild attention.

So, true to the topic; here's why I won't be buying an N800. Yet.

Speed has always been a relative thing in the realm of computing. I have a P4 3GHz PC at home that was blazing fast in 2004 and still serves my needs now. In 2007, it's not the fastest, but still serves my needs. The 770 works acceptably.

A device in a portable form factor just aches to be carried abroad. A foam case reminescent of those "We're Number 1!" foam hands at sporting events doesn't really cut it from portability or protective perspectives. Nokia was genius to incorporate a hard case on the 770. I dare say it's why more than 5% of them still exist in the wild today. I'd really love to hear the reasoning on ditching it completely (even tailoring the N800 chassis for a sold-separately clip-on model would've been better).

Memory... 2 SD card slots. Bonus. This is a good move, and this is a perfect example of me being a fickle consumer. Seriously, I don't want to be dicking around with any more memory card formats. In my home we've already got RSMMC, CompactFlash, and those big suckers with the gold contacts on them whose name eludes me.

Software. This, I admit, I could be completely wrong about. I've heard backwards compatibility isn't possible. Here's my issue; For a device that relies so heavily on *volunteer* community involvement so far as application production goes, why break it? I remember when Linux switched binary formats years ago you'd have to compile apps for the old a.out format, or the new (at the time) ELF format (Hope I got that information right, this dates back to the mid 90's and I was 15 at the time). Is it just a matter of recompilation? If not, a bunch of already stressed developers using their precious spare time to make for a more robust tablet are being prodded to do even more... and so soon after the last tablet came out. I don't know about you, but I'd either be a zealot (never heard that term applied to Linux users before - - hah!) and stick with the 770, or give up completely. The hallowed internet acronym WTF seems fitting.

I'd *love* to see the data behind those customer surveys. I realize I have very fleeting contact with the 770 userbase as a whole what with frequenting ITT (we're all nuts, just admit it) but where are these people who said the hard case was a horrible idea? Was it the 'blocks access to the stylus' crowd? (Come on, slide the cover 1/4 inch and pull it out, it's not hard.) Didn't everyone champion further developing the applications at hand? The abysmal email client (that I don't even use anyway)? A better suite for streaming media from their desktops?

... wtf?

** edit: Referring to the hardcase, I mean an actual cover, not something I could construct with a greeting card and a strip of duct tape:
http://www.europe.nokia.com/accessorieslink?s=N800Case