I second this. Another thing I'd love to see is the OS grouping windows of the same application into a single window or object after passing a certain threshold, similar to say, what WIndows does with applications when the Start Menu runs out of space. Having something like 6 chat/SMS windows open makes the multitasking view extremely cluttered, especially if you've got other apps running.

I always close everything when phone is not in use. When I do some work on the phone I usually have the following:

E-mail
Xterm with ssh session running
Web-browser
Docs 2 Go

And I am constantly switching between these copy/pasting and reading data between the windows.

Some times with above load call have difficulty to come through smoothly, which is not a nice thing....

Thanks, Jack. But to be honest there is large bunch of great minds in our Maemo now MeeGo team. I'm just one of the talking heads earning credit or dismay for other people's work.

No, we are not ignoring you or the N900. But yes, we are busy we plenty of things around Maemo 5 and of course mostly around MeeGo 1.1 for Handsets. Flash 10.1 obviously ain't a trivial piece of software as you can see from some examples of our fellow competitors. Claiming that you have it doesn't mean it runs smoothly...

Remember, you overclock it, you loose warranty...no free speed lunch as tempting it may be.

How about we toss in the ability to switch between programs via the keyboard? I understand this was possible in Maemo 4, and would be extremely nice to have in Maemo 5 (maybe hildon-desktop mods are in order?)

Sadly, there is no 3G down here + very (I mean, VERY!) slow GPRS, so while out of home, there is no point on having more than 2 or 3 apps running at the same time (Contacts, phone, music player and ocassionally notes/PDF/etc).
However, when browsing at home I tend to have 5-10 web pages (specially talk.maemo.org), email and communication).
It is true that, when having all this open, receiving a call is almost impossible!

Actually I'm the "close application after you're finished" type of guy, even on my desktop. But I find myself using multitasking on the N900 even more than on my desktop PC. One reason is that compared to a full-blown PC with DSL-connection, my N900 on a more or less reliable 3G/2G-connection is relatively slow. So whenever I start doing something that I know will take a few moments, I use the time doing something else... Start writing the next mail when a website refuses to load instantly... Check RSS feeds while application manager is busy... and so on. It's less that I really need to do 2 things at a time - I just use this strategy to avoid having to wait. (And yes, I know that both activities are being performed by the same CPU, making me wait even longer... it's a psychological thing.)

Of course there's other situations when I do "real" multitasking, like when I copy part of a web page, send it by mail, then read on... (did that just a few hours ago)... Or that other occasion when I had a chat going on and looked up the café the other person was at on Ovi Maps (satellite image was useful), then getting the time table and directions from the fahrplan application. That was a nice example, btw, as it really didn't interrupt the chat experience at all and I could just say "Oh, sure, I know where that is. It's right at Augarten park, isn't it? Could be there in 35min or so."

I am another that closes apps after I am finished with them.

However, when the phone is not at rest:

-Conversations - IM enabled
-phonebook (as a way of quick firing SMS)
-Media Player (with FM transmit when in car)
-Email
-Some game or other (when not in car!) This will stay open if level is not complete.
-I'll flick in and out or Phone App and Conky as and when I need/am interested
-Same with web - one or two browser windows checking links from email and facebook.

Plus others will come and go so I guess 3 Permanent and up to 6/7 one I get going.

I went from maemo to android... and I must say among the thing I miss the most is the "well-thought" multitasking I had on the N900. I would definitly have keept my N900 if it wasn't for the battery...
My point being, Maemo was great and especially the nice multitasking implementation! I do hope meego will keep that feature at least as good!

Wake

Difficult to answer, as I'm not quite sure on the definition of 'open'.

The clock is always running (obviously), and has several alarms permanently live.
Modest checks my email every half hour, whether I have it 'open' or not (unlike the email programme on my laptop).
The phone and conversations components are receiving, and presumably checking into the network provider, and will simply 'open themselves' if there's something I ought to know.
The calendar widget collects data from my calendar and displays it on one of my homescreens, and I can access the calendar at a single touch if I want more information.
Desktop command execution widget displays my battery level constantly.

This is all happening all the time, is it multi-tasking?

In terms of things I actually interact with when using the device, (over and above the things mentioned) I'd say I don't mutli-task a huge amount but it is incredibly useful to be able to.

To click a link in an email and open the browser automatically, then return to the email where I left it.

To recieve a sms while doing something else (playing, browsing, reading etc) and be able to read it and reply wthout losing my place.

To check my diary while writing an email, surfing the web, replying to a sms or talking on the phone without having to stop what I'm doing.

To be able to listen to music or internet radio (cricket!) while doing other things.

To be able to check the lectionary for a date weeks ahead (via the browser) and then read the relevent lessons in katana one at a time.

There are probably more instances I could think of if I sat here all evening. The point is not that I have 20 windows open at once, but that I can easily open as many as I might want or need for a specific situation simply and without the device throwing a hissy fit.