Most important features in cooked ROMs - HD2 Windows Mobile 6.5 Themes and Apps

1) what do you think is most important when you're choosing ROMs?
2) what kinds of things disappoint you the most in cooked ROMs?
3) whats your favourite ROM?
my own views on these topics:
1) all good ROMs need to be fast and stable, they have to retain all the functions of the stock ROMs, and they need to have general aesthetic appeal.
a really great ROM needs to do all of that, and it needs to use the
amazing hardware in an innovative fashion that highlights the strengths of the device.
2) before my Leo i used a Diamond, so RAM usage was definately an issue.
if a chef removes a usefull function, that's also not good.
my biggest disappointment with XDA ROMs is probably UI design, though. some chefs have really strange ideas about aesthetics, in my opinion.
I say if you can't make something that's prettier than stock, then don't.
3) Prolly Energy or Lightshadow. Just got my Leo, so I haven't really checked out all the options yet.
reason for asking:
I wanna start cooking ROMs in the near future, and if whatever I end up cooking has some general appeal, that would be kinda inspiring. Maybe I have some preconceptions that could use challenging, as well.

Related

TF3D2 vs WM6.5 Default

Which one is cooler? I've been using XBMod's TF3D2 cooked into my fave ROMs for a month now and I've grown quite accustomed to it.
However, As of the last three days I've been using WM6.5 and the interface is nice. I'm still using TF3D2 but I'm considering moving over to WM6.5 becaue its so much lighter, simpler, and snappier.
However, TF3D2 is more versatile and stylish.
What do you guys think?
hmm I think tf3d2 is definitely very nice but because its not part of the os and it has to run on top of winmo, I'd rather give up a little bit of style and keep things going nice and fast without sacrificing ram and resources. And I kinda like the sliders and other new stuff that 6.5 has to offer although I can't wait for 7
I just realized that WM6.5 doesn't do weather I use the weather tab a lot.
I also use the Youtube/Internet tab too in TF3D2
Im using the default. I like TF3D2 alot, but its landscape mode is buggy
Yeah, thats true. I think I'm going to turn to default WM6.5 for a while after all.
i made the leap and flashed my Fuze for the first time and w/ Da_G's base WM 6.5 rom. i like the new 6.5 today/home interface. i also wouldn't be surprised if icons get added to the text on the home page once the final version is released. while TF3D has a lot of nice features, it's ultimately eye candy. i think the 6.5 interface consolidates things nicely on one screen and is finger-friendly enough. when i was using the stock rom, i was actually using PointUI's Home2 instead of TF3D as that just used too many resources and I really only used maybe 3 tabs.
*rant/aside*
i think microsoft needs to bring WM to a level where the core functionality of the device, foremost it's phone/communicating functions, is solid and can stand on its own without these user-made shells/enhancements. honestly, i think this is where the iphone succeeds--it's core functionality is done very well and for probably 90+% of the market, it does what users need it to do w/o any hassles. on the other hand, w/ WM more often than not, one is always trying to tweak the device as the UI and/or out-of-box experience isn't always pleasant. as for tweaking, frankly it gets tiring and frustrating--i've got other things in my life to do and would much rather be able to have a device that's useable right out of the box. overlooking its lack of physical keyboard and deficiencies w/ bluetooth (which should be remedied in OS 3.0), if the iphone platform weren't so locked down (have to go through apps store for everything and compulsory internet plans), i probably would have gone that route and am still contemplating it as my next phone.
^I don't think you get the value of the M$ business model.
Mac for iPhone is just like Mac for their home computers; its designed the way that the OEM wants it, and since they are the OEM, thats that.
WinMo is designed to appeal to a much much larger range of distributors. Its designed vanilla to keep costs low so that the resellers can tweak it however they want and make their own product out of it. People are happy to use the product as it is. Its mostly just the geeks that get annoyed with it, but all the T-Mobile Wing users out there don't complain, despite the phone running like a smelly piece of ass. Why? Because its cheap and, in the end, gets the job done.
You'll never catch a business mass ordering iPhones for their field workers because that's not what they are for. iPhones are entertainment devices. WinMo phones are work devices.
Its actually very intelligent. Sure, the OS isn't as tight as it could be, but they can get away with it because its such an effective model. Its just how business works.
6.5 does do weather. you install titanium weather. i like tf3d better. its flashier which is always a wow factor and i think alot more development went into it. chome is good but it does feel like a competitor. an iphone user wouldnt be impressed with chome. its up to you what you want to use. the brilliance of windows mobile is you can have it look and do whatever the hell you want.
So I'm back to Wm6.1. Didn't like the random bugs in Wm6.5and there was nothing special about it anyway.
hidavi said:
So I'm back to Wm6.1. Didn't like the random bugs in Wm6.5and there was nothing special about it anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just did exactly what I was going to suggest you do...
I HIGHLY suggest you try out EnergyROM 2.0 series... IMHO it's the best 6.1-TF3d2 ROM out there: It's fast and furious, no joke.
Rock on.
Is it CDMA-compatible?
I don't think a fair comparison can be made between 2 leaked beta interfaces that may never be officially released for our device. TF3D2 does come off more polished because it's a whole lot closer to release. It will be interesting to see what HTC brings to 6.5. I can't imagine that they won't bring some part of TF3D interface along to maintain their own branding. It's inevitable that everyone here who doesn't jump to another phone will be running 6.5 eventually, whether it's officially released for the tp or not. I'm also interested in what effect the Palm Pre's interface will have on WM devices. I haven't used a Pre, but I have used TealOS on my wifes 755P and it points the way to a superior interface for a multitasking environment. Task managment is not something WM has ever done well and neither 6.5 or TF3D seems to improve that much at all.

new to the forum, have a question

am between a TP2 and a Hero on sprint, i like how big the TP2 is but can i get the sense ui from the hero on it. or can i get android 2.1 running sense ui on it. don't really know much about the TP2 or Hero have been using a pre since release.
just want to know what i can do to a TP2 as apposed to a hero, and really like the look of the touch pro 2 but i'm not sure i'll like Windows mobile, even if it's with a cooked 6.5.5 rom.
any help would be awesome.
1st off, it is best to figure out, "what will I use this phone for".
Honestly, this is my take on the whole situation. If you want a phone that is "yours", there is no substitute for windows customizations. To really make it a phone that is yours though will require a couple days of research and a couple days of testing (cooked roms vs stock) to find out what you like best.
Android is going to be very easy to set up...basic touch icon menus and widgets for customization features. At the end of the day it will be a phone that works and has various multimedia features, but it won't be quite as "yours" as a winmo phone would be.
Both are great operating systems and it really boils down to what you want as a consumer.
*edit*
Forgot to mention beforehand, but if you are in an IT environment, WinMo's remote desktop and mobile office make a HUGE difference.
The Touch Pro 2 is great... check out this thread for a Sense UI... forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=604146 .
Good Luck!
david

[Q] Should I or Shouldn't I....

Root my Evo 4G.....?
Reason I ask this, is one I am new to all of this. My previous phones were Blackberry and not much you can do but use their system and get the customized UI's for it. With Android, it's far more flexible. What I'm concerned over, is since this voids my warranty, what does going to a ROM do for me?
Is it possible that some of them are so better written that they perform better than the standard one that comes on your phone, thus saving battery power a lot? Or is it just for a new look and feel? I've always loved to tinker on my computers I build, super tweaking the OS and customizing my systems to fit my every need. I figure this is pretty much the same thing. Just wondering what some of the key benefits were.
Also wouldn't mind some recommendations on ROMS to look at and read over. I know I've looked at CyanogenMod 6.1 so far, still reading up on it. Seems to be extremely popular, just wondering what are my main advantages and disadvantages will be is all.
Thanks in advance!

Why WP7 on HD2 ? I would rather have WinMo 6.5 on HTC 7 pro ...

Hello World,
I really don't understand why, but I know there are some people that want WP7 on their "old" devices like HD2 and that some great gurus on XDA are working hard to do it
Yet personally I just hate WP7 and I would like to know if the opposite initiative exists or would be possible : I would like to have good old WinMo 6.5 on newer hardware
I'd love to have something with at least 1 ghz horsepower like HD2, a big capacitive screen but also with a hardware keyboard like desire Z or HTC 7 pro ... running WinMo.
Do you know if there are some hacking attempts to make work wm 6.5 on new devices designed for wp7 or android ?
Cheers,
Nibbler.
Doubt it, WM is about the only OS versatile enough to launch a different OS altogether. I personally wouldnt touch 6.5 again with a 10 foot pole, I dont want to modify my phone for a week before it gains some functionality.
There are plenty of people, like myself, who would love to trade our HD2's for an HD7. Different strokes.
z33dev33l said:
Doubt it, WM is about the only OS versatile enough to launch a different OS altogether. I personally wouldnt touch 6.5 again with a 10 foot pole, I dont want to modify my phone for a week before it gains some functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think you will find android is just as able to launch a diffrent os .... linux based os's like ubuntu can be easly launched from android
Linux on top of linux isnt that impressive... and linux itself is kinda a letdown as is. I mean I know that its capable of a bunch of cool additional features but just like android you have to tinker with it for forever before it's usable.
uberamd said:
There are plenty of people, like myself, who would love to trade our HD2's for an HD7. Different strokes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give it time and I'm sure there will be plenty of people you can swap with
Old?
LOL, it´s funny how now we are used to call "old" to a year old device
I prefer Leo because I can switch between Android and WM and soon with WP7 and that´s the freedom I want on a phone.
Doubt WP7 will have the option to load WM but if I´m wrong probably then and only then I should consider it.
I agree, I would love to have the "option" to put 6.5 on a WP7 phone...just gota figure out that flash card thing !
Just because every app for 6.5 is not available for WP7 yet and won't be for a long time, basic stuff like RDC is not there yet and I need it.
z33dev33l said:
Doubt it, WM is about the only OS versatile enough to launch a different OS altogether. I personally wouldnt touch 6.5 again with a 10 foot pole, I dont want to modify my phone for a week before it gains some functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you on both points : WM is the most versatile mobile OS ... and yes most of the time you have to tweak it a lot. Yet from my point of view, WM as a core and some graphical user friendly interface above like Sense gives to the user "the best of the two worlds" : a powerful and tweakable machine but also user friendly out of the box
orb3000 said:
Old?
LOL, it´s funny how now we are used to call "old" to a year old device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also double quoted "Old" in my post
DavidinCT said:
I agree, I would love to have the "option" to put 6.5 on a WP7 phone...just gota figure out that flash card thing !
Just because every app for 6.5 is not available for WP7 yet and won't be for a long time, basic stuff like RDC is not there yet and I need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely
Now that I´ve tested WP7 on my leo I must confess I prefer Windows Mobile
Read my article tomorrow in the Portal to know more
Just to try to clarify my thought :
even if certainly difficult, would it be possible or totally unthinkable to "cross-flash" let's say a tweaked HD2 rom, with some touch pro 2 keyboard drivers cooked inside, over a HD7pro or Desire Z machine if the hardware between HD2 and HD7pro/Desire Z are quite similar ?
orb3000 said:
Now that I´ve tested WP7 on my leo I must confess I prefer Windows Mobile
Read my article tomorrow in the Portal to know more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also think WM is just 10000 better and more powerful than WP7
Personally I just don't understand why WP7 is making such a buzz ... and even inside the techno-geeks people community
What makes me sad it is not that m$ has made WP7 ... (if some people are willing to pay to have a uglier and not customizable OS with less features, it's after all their choice ) ... what makes me sad is that WM a much more capable and versatile OS is dying
orb3000 said:
Now that I´ve tested WP7 on my leo I must confess I prefer Windows Mobile
Read my article tomorrow in the Portal to know more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One day working with WP7 on a hacked device gives you a firm base to run a compare of the two? I don't think so mate, that would be poor journalism at best.
Lord.Nibbler said:
I also think WM is just 10000 better and more powerful than WP7
Personally I just don't understand why WP7 is making such a buzz ... and even inside the techno-geeks people community
What makes me sad it is not that m$ has made WP7 ... (if some people are willing to pay to have a uglier and not customizable OS with less features, it's after all their choice ) ... what makes me sad is that WM a much more capable and versatile OS is dying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh, I agree except the uglier part. People for the most part arent members of XDA developers. Who wants a phone that you have to tweak for days before it becomes something functional? Maybe an XDA member. Who wants a phone that you still have to bust a stylus out sometimes to hit some menu options? Maybe an XDA member. I would trade all of that in any day for the most fluid UI, intelligent keyboard, and music interface on a phone to date.
The reason for this is ......... just because.
The HTC HD2 is an awesome phone, that should be the basis of any number of other phones. Its very hackable, its stable, it works well, its epically user-friendly and it doesn't have any significant downsides. Its also very easy to change the bootloader on and we've seen the effectiveness of MAGLDR and other options.
Asking why is sort of like asking why Linux exists. It exists because its something people find useful and interesting. Some people find it awesome to hack, some find it great to use. Most don't know about it and never change their phone in any way.
I'm personally waiting to see iOS4 running on the HD2. That will be interestingly epic.
Probably the reason is WM6.5 is pretty much dead, and WP7 isn't. You aren't going to see any new apps or new development for WM6.5. All the latest apps are going to be for iPhone, Android, and WP7.
It's kind of a shame, I think 6.5 seems quite fluid and finger-friendly on my Touch Diamond running Energy ROM. However, none of the games and apps I have for iPhone and Android are available for WM6.5.
z33dev33l said:
Eh, I agree except the uglier part. People for the most part arent members of XDA developers. Who wants a phone that you have to tweak for days before it becomes something functional? Maybe an XDA member. Who wants a phone that you still have to bust a stylus out sometimes to hit some menu options? Maybe an XDA member. I would trade all of that in any day for the most fluid UI, intelligent keyboard, and music interface on a phone to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just two points :
- In fact uglier or not uglier is just a matter of taste, so I wont argue on that even if I found the WP7 interface horrible ... The real point that is really ugly is that fact that m$ is becoming dictatorial and decided to prevent people to have the right to change it or customize it to suit their needs Personally I will never pay for an OS that will prevent me to do what I want to do. The OS must suit my needs, not the contrary
- And as for the tweaking ... if you take a phone like the HD2 WM+Sense, you have a pretty good power over user friendliness balance, certainly far far better than any of the WP7 devices...
zedd_D1abl0 said:
The reason for this is ......... just because.
The HTC HD2 is an awesome phone, that should be the basis of any number of other phones. Its very hackable, its stable, it works well, its epically user-friendly and it doesn't have any significant downsides. Its also very easy to change the bootloader on and we've seen the effectiveness of MAGLDR and other options.
Asking why is sort of like asking why Linux exists. It exists because its something people find useful and interesting. Some people find it awesome to hack, some find it great to use. Most don't know about it and never change their phone in any way.
I'm personally waiting to see iOS4 running on the HD2. That will be interestingly epic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you've maybe misunderstood me : I don't ask "why HD2 ?" because I also think it is by far the best smartphone on the market even today or why hacking which is more and more logical and legitimate when major companies try to restrict features as much as possible just to try to sell you a shiny new new revolutionary "copy & paste" upgrade a few month later...
My point is : for now I won't change my HD2, I don't think that I will find a better phone on the market in the near future...
I mean, hardware is improving and some really nice 1 ghz+ sliding keyboard like HD7 pro will be soon available... but for me WP7 is just a wobbly dumbphone OS that will prevent me to buy such phone.
But HD2 won't last forever ... so I was just trying to know if there would be a chance that the creativity of the xda gurus could be orientated to try to keep alive WM on newer hardware, as m$ certainly won't do it, as it is more profitable for them to push forward Wobbly Phone 7
GnatGoSplat said:
Probably the reason is WM6.5 is pretty much dead, and WP7 isn't. You aren't going to see any new apps or new development for WM6.5. All the latest apps are going to be for iPhone, Android, and WP7.
It's kind of a shame, I think 6.5 seems quite fluid and finger-friendly on my Touch Diamond running Energy ROM. However, none of the games and apps I have for iPhone and Android are available for WM6.5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it's even better on a HD2 than on a diamond
The fact is that even if WM6.5 is dying ... there are still a lot more apps on WM6.5 than WP7 and you also find apps on WM that you won't find on Android or iPhone.
And developers are stopping to develop on WM6.5 because they think that there is no future...
But maybe if WP7 sales are very low, and power users still try to keep alive WM6.5 and show that they won't accept this forced regression ... maybe m$ will change their minds and they will give us back some power features, customisation and compatibility with WM6.5. After all, WP7 core is still windows CE based so it is just an artificial and arbitrary tie up.
They ditched all the easy access for a UI that's not terrible without a stylus. Fair trade in my opinion. I like 6.5 but I didn't like building up my hd2 with custom everything before I could call it functional. Complain about c & p all you want I never used it. I did however use the keyboard, the menus, the dialer, the SMS programs, email integration, etc. None of which could be considered useful if even functional on 6.5. I'll take an os i don't have to mod to make it awesome over one i can mod in a number of ways any time.

[Q] Cyanogen?

Hi, can someone explain exactly what Cyanogen mods are all about? Are they the premium development and what makes them special? Sorry for such a simple question but I am relatively new to the Android scene Thanks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod
try it and decide for yourself if you like it.
I only had my Nexus s for 48 hours....I will have to build up to flashing a ROM, I am rooted though I wanted to know how the real terms performance is different when running Cyanogen.
Cyanogen historically is the best of the best custom ROM with tons of extra, very useful features. Cyan on my nexus one is just awesome and brings so many extra things needed.
performace difference.....not much with the nexus s so far...I use it for the extra features. dropdown bar widgets, two slider lockscreen, incogneto mode in the browser, and other such tweaks. I have used it for so long that i forget what is different about it until i go back to a stock firmware....then i realize why i like it so much. but that's me. The nexus s is nice because it doesn't have another skin on it. i'm just not a fan of them. CM is essential for me on the incredible and my evo. i don't care how much people praise sense i just don't like it. i had a g1 then a nexus one.....sense was fun when it was called rosie and was released on the g1 as an alternate theme....even then it slowed things down.
edit: if anyone says they get 200 more points in quadrant benchmarks that isn't a real world performace increase. you can't feel 200 points....now the ext4 enhancements, those you can feel.
Thank you for all your replies, very useful. I will be sure to try Cyanogen when I have the confidence to make the switch

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