Good point! Here is what I'm looking for: It's open if it has an mini-window in the multitasking view aka Dashboard. I'm not counting widgets and background projects

I use multitasking the most when I'm browsing the web. When browsing, I quite often have a couple of sites open, such as Twitter, Facebook and a few pages on what I'm actually looking at. I switch between these windows, and in addition I usually have a music player or an IM chat going on as well.

But I like to keep my programs closed when I don't need them. I don't use multitasking to just have everything ready in the background. Once I'm done, I close all windows and open apps.

Most crucial for me in multitasking is moving information from one view into the other. This is where computer-like copy+paste functions and keyboard shortcuts (such as ctrl+a) come in handy. This is, of course something where Maemo really delivers. But I see that these functions are a great aid in multitasking, and perhaps even the functions that allow truly utilising it.

That would work except the device will open a mini-window if it wants one.

I put my n900 down 20 minutes ago, with no windows open. But when I pick it up again, it will have opened one saying I have new email (it's a maemo-community mail from QGil!). As it is currently on silent, I may also have missed a text message, so there'll be a window for my conversations app - and possibly one for my phone if I missed a call.

All these things happened in the background, but still open a dashboard window if they need to. I think part of the cleverness of the device is that it isn't quite so clear cut.

One of the best things is that I always have full control of any apps, and can easily close them. I dont need an arbitrary app manager or task switcher or whatever. It just works right there and then directly on the desktop. This is how all phones should be. The netbook Meego is very bad in this respect, really clunky. I hope Meego on the N9/900 will be as Maemo is, not as Meego netbook is.

I keep the minimum number possible open, since open apps make the phone stutter and slow down. I like reading on the phone, so I usually have fbreader(or more recently mebook) open. I would like to keep email open but it's a resource hog.

I find that having more than 3 apps open will ensure that I cannot take a call. By the time the call widgets show up, the call has been sent to voicemail. Another symptom is that all the sounds don't play properly. Under even medium load, the sounds will start stuttering or get stuck half way (commonly happens on new IM/SMS notifications). The UI will also freeze briefly during animations. Sometimes trying to load the dashboard is impossible if some app is hogging the CPU.

The browser, maps and email are the worst culprits. If I have a browser window open in the background for a day, the phone just grinds to a stop. Nothing short of rebooting will bring it back to life.

Suggestions:

I would like it if the phone app had precedence over all others. Next global UI interactions (notifications, loading the dashboard or desktop, app switching) should have precidence. Those should always work smoothly, no matter how hard any app is working. Finally all apps, widgets etc should have the lowest precedence. This will ensure that one rogue app doesn't bring the entire device to its knees.

Great, I hope you've made sure it is high on the "to do" list!

Typical number of apps for me: 2
(e.g. browser, mediaplayer)

About max for me in normal use: 6
(e.g. browser, mediaplayer, text editor, pdf reader, xterm, email)

You're welcome Peter. Thanks for replying. I presumed there are also other folks working on many different projects at Nokia, but when it comes to the N900 it just seems the majority (probably unintentionally) is silent. Nokia doesn't talk about it as much as their other products. I understand the N900 is not for everyone, eventhough you've tried hard to break that barrier, but knowing time to time Nokia hasn't abandonded it would feel more consolatory.

I am happy to hear that you are still working on things regarding Maemo 5. Developing MeeGo is obviously a big challenge for you, since it will become one of the core elements of Nokia in the near future. I understand you need to polish it as best as you can. So far, the tablet version of the OS impressed me alot, seriously alot. The mobile version not so much to be honest.

You are right with Flash 10.1 being a challenging feature on all fronts. It sometimes crashes even on PC, not to mention on the handhelds we have seen having it so far. But with the rapid progress of software and technology you also have to understand that Flash 10.1 on the N900 is a must have feature, not only because it is a mobile tablet, but also because competition is smart and fast. Many users have expressed their upset over this issue since the showcasted demo on the N900 very long ago, because we haven't recieved any real update on the situation since then. Hardware of the N900 isn't a problem. In my eyes, the N900 is Nokia's best product to date. Hopefully we can look forward to Maemo 5 updates soon.

Right now I have two X-terminals and xchat open. The x-terms because I like to monitor CPU and memory use so that I don't overextend the device's limited resources, and to monitor the battery because the original meter isn't that helpful in helping my ensure I don't run out.
Xchat is of course for keeping in touch with what's happening on the intarwebs.

This is my "minimal" setup. When I'm asleep, or in my freetime when I'm not using the N900. Sometimes I go to sleep with media player streaming something relaxing from internet radio, with the "Sleeper" widget from maemo.org extras repository.

At my dayjob I'll typically have the above plus gpodder and media player. I listen to various news and music podcasts during work, sometimes browsing internet too in the quieter patches of work.

At my currently second semi-volunteer job I actually need to communicate, so I'll have Conversations open to do directory lookups via sms, phone app open, Notes app open to take quick notes notes because those pens just vanish in my car, Ovi Maps and Sygic Maps open. It's easier to find stuff on the map with Ovi Maps, but it's harder to navigate there with Ovi Maps than with sygic maps. When I've found something with Ovi Maps, I usually try to find it again with Sygic, but Sygic has different idea of what every place is called, so it's not always easy. I like Ovi Maps feature of basically having free-text search of the globe, whereas sygic requires a city name (and it has a weird idea of that, not even locals are familiar with the naming sygic uses), or post code, which isn't usually mentioned in the addresses I get.

Especially the latter scenario stretches the phone's hardware resources to the limit with two GPS apps open, plus the phone and sms apps, and the apps from my "minimal" set. Sometimes I also need the browser on top of that, which usually means a half-minute pause for the page faulting and swapping in and out of stuff...

I almost always (meaning 90% of the time) run the following applications in the background:

• Phone: it is very convenient to just switch to it instead of having to launch it each time
• Media player: same reason. I very much like to listen to music on the N900, I do it everyday, even more than with my previous N95
• Calendar: I go to university and it is convenient to see what and where the next lesson is, or what todos I have
• E-mail: also very useful to have it there all the time
• Web: the start window of the web browser to let me quickly access my bookmarks anytime

In addition to the above, I usually run the following applications when I'm actually using the device:

• Contacts: usually I open it once, then keep it there
• 3-4 web pages at once
• 2-3 IM windows
• X Terminal: for doing stuff