Hello all -
I am getting my Tilt from AT&T tomorrow and I've been reading like crazy on this forum + wiki in preparation of getting it. Thanks to everyone who has contributed - awesome resource!
I understand the idea of flashing ROMS, unlocking, and general tweaking - I massively hacking/tweak my Tivo, etc. and I'm pretty sure I can get through it. But, I still have one question:
What, exactly, is the advantage of the HTC rom over the AT&T Tilt rom? I have never see the HTC rom but it looks like I can avoid the bloatware and add/tweak to my Tilt to make it similar to the HTC.
So, what exactly is on (or not on) the HTC rom that makes everyone want to switch away from the Tilt rom? What does the HTC rom have that the AT&T rom can't have???
Also: I have noticed some posts about battery life being different with different roms. I assumed that battery life would result from the way the varoius settings/options are set, but maybe I am not getting this.
I have read around on the forum quite a bit and I am understanding most of the nitty gritty details about these issues, but I'm a little unclear on what the problem is with the AT&T rom in the first place!
Any advice apreciated!! thanks - Dave
I get my Tilt Tuesday and am wondering what the "bottom line" is on this as well. It seems by removing bloatware, and installing a few cabs, you pretty much get a Kaiser. Speed and battery life are concerns for me though and if either is poor, I'm pretty comfortable installing a ROM (did it previously on my Wizard). Thanks to all for all the good info and advice. I've read way too much considering I don't even have the phone yet.
Hopefully we'll get an answer. On another forum I've read that you can install cabs to make the Tilt like the HTC, but on another thread I read that the HTC rom is different and better!
I'm not seeing any major disadvantages from using the HTC rom, actually, besides the menu problems which evidently have a fix. So, it might be worth a shot.
advantages
dhecker said:
Hello all -
I am getting my Tilt from AT&T tomorrow and I've been reading like crazy on this forum + wiki in preparation of getting it. Thanks to everyone who has contributed - awesome resource!
I understand the idea of flashing ROMS, unlocking, and general tweaking - I massively hacking/tweak my Tivo, etc. and I'm pretty sure I can get through it. But, I still have one question:
What, exactly, is the advantage of the HTC rom over the AT&T Tilt rom? I have never see the HTC rom but it looks like I can avoid the bloatware and add/tweak to my Tilt to make it similar to the HTC.
So, what exactly is on (or not on) the HTC rom that makes everyone want to switch away from the Tilt rom? What does the HTC rom have that the AT&T rom can't have???
Also: I have noticed some posts about battery life being different with different roms. I assumed that battery life would result from the way the varoius settings/options are set, but maybe I am not getting this.
I have read around on the forum quite a bit and I am understanding most of the nitty gritty details about these issues, but I'm a little unclear on what the problem is with the AT&T rom in the first place!
Any advice apreciated!! thanks - Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
custom roms base on htc releases have many advantages:
1- get rid of all junk and restrictions of at&t one
2- reg hacks and fixes that take the most out of your phone
3- many more advantages but if numbered here will take me all night
search in these forum and you get many other reasons to change. For example i bought the tilt and in the same day i unlock it due a hardspl and change the rom to a custom one and beleive i will never come back to at&t stock rom.
I was in your guys shoes too. I read a ton on this forum before I got the phone. Here is my advice having had 2 Tilts, first one I had for a week, then returned it till I got a better deal.
When you first start the phone you go through a quick WM6 setup. After that it will say "Customizing Device" and there will be a progress bar. When this starts reset the phone with the stylus into the small hole at the bottom. That will prevent a lot of the ATT bloatware from loading.
Try that for a week, and if it isn't broke then don't fix it.
That said, there are a lot of HTC apps I love. Keep in mind you don't need a new rom to install them.
I would only try new ROMs if one or more of the following apply:
1) You are having some issues with stability or speed.
2) You need more space on the main memory.
3) You are lazy and want to try some other premade package.
Basically all the roms I tried are not that different then the stock ATT rom without the "Customizations" bloatware install. Plus you can get the phone to the exact same level by installing apps and doing small tweaks. Its not night and day or anything dramatic. However its fun to try new things and tweak the phone, thats one of the reasons I got it.
Here are my Must Have applications.
HTC Home
HTC Audio Manager
KaiserTweak
HTC Task Manager
Opera Mini Beta 4
Google Maps
Windows Live
Pops_G said:
I was in your guys shoes too. I read a ton on this forum before I got the phone. Here is my advice having had 2 Tilts, first one I had for a week, then returned it till I got a better deal.
When you first start the phone you go through a quick WM6 setup. After that it will say "Customizing Device" and there will be a progress bar. When this starts reset the phone with the stylus into the small hole at the bottom. That will prevent a lot of the ATT bloatware from loading.
Try that for a week, and if it isn't broke then don't fix it.
That said, there are a lot of HTC apps I love. Keep in mind you don't need a new rom to install them.
I would only try new ROMs if one or more of the following apply:
1) You are having some issues with stability or speed.
2) You need more space on the main memory.
3) You are lazy and want to try some other premade package.
Basically all the roms I tried are not that different then the stock ATT rom without the "Customizations" bloatware install. Plus you can get the phone to the exact same level by installing apps and doing small tweaks. Its not night and day or anything dramatic. However its fun to try new things and tweak the phone, thats one of the reasons I got it.
Here are my Must Have applications.
HTC Home
HTC Audio Manager
KaiserTweak
HTC Task Manager
Opera Mini Beta 4
Google Maps
Windows Live
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pops, thanks for your informative reply. Is there really ANYTHING that the HTC rom can do that couldn't be somehow configured into the AT&T rom? I don't really mind flashing to a new rom but if I can start with the Tilt rom and configure everything I need (even if it takes a while ) that might be fine.
Am I correct in understanding that TouchFlo can work just fine on the AT&T rom? There are mixed messages about that.
Also, does any of this have anything to do with battery life??
thanks!
It all comes down to preferrences. I have a Tilt, and I have installed just about every ROM available here. I keep going back to HTC oriented ROMS, but there is some drawback in that you have to "tweak" it a bit usually to get full AT&T usability. AT&T ROMS are good for staying "true" to the carrier's mindset, but usually are buggy or slower. Dutty's right now is my fav, but that could change
Battery life is best controlled with 2 applications, both the Kaiser Tweak program, and with a good comm manager program to disable comm when not in use. Or at least move between 2G and 3G connections. 3G is awesome fast, but a hugh battery drain.
Thanks for your input! I played with a Tllt for a while and the AT&T rom might have been slower (I don't know cause I've never seen the HTC!) but it was totally stable as far as I could tell. Is there some specific bugginess that you saw or are you just referring to the general sloppiness of the AT&T bundles, etc.?
dhecker said:
Pops, thanks for your informative reply. Is there really ANYTHING that the HTC rom can do that couldn't be somehow configured into the AT&T rom? I don't really mind flashing to a new rom but if I can start with the Tilt rom and configure everything I need (even if it takes a while ) that might be fine.
Am I correct in understanding that TouchFlo can work just fine on the AT&T rom? There are mixed messages about that.
Also, does any of this have anything to do with battery life??
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there is nothing you cannot do with the AT&T rom given enough time and tweaking. Before I got my phone I some how got the impression ROMs where almost like a different animal. I think a better analogy would be comparing them to a house with furniture. The different ROMs are just different styles.
But if you are a real power user, and it sounds like you are, I would just use another ROM and start from there. You will save some time. I'm a fan of the "clean" ROMs that some with almost nothing installed. Then I build them up from there. They are very easy to install if you read the instructions. And it only takes like 10-15 mins max.
Pops - That last comment was interesting. I can totally see the advantage of installing a lite rom or for that matter, a fully loaded Dutty's rom, etc. My concern was that if I did that, I'd actually wind up having to tweak for a while to get things smooth on the Tilt since I wouldn't be using the 'stock' rom. The assumption is the everything would work on day 1 with the stock rom, so I can tweak but I never have to really get things going.
In your experience, if I installed the most recent version of Dutty's Hybrid Kaiser TouchFlo Final (if I'm gonna flash the rom, I might as well load it up) that things would be about as stable/easy as if I spent time customized the AT&T rom?
If there's not too much risk or BS I might just go for it! There is something about keeping the original rom that makes me feel more confident, but it's also fun to tweak on the thing!
Well there are two types of Kaisers right now. The original HTC branded one and the Tilt. They are different in 2 ways. For the Tilt, some roms require you to install a keyboard fix for a minor adjustment. Also you have to configure the AT&T internet settings. It depends on the ROM. Some of the ROMs are already designed for the Tilt.
To answer your question, yes some of these ROMs can have you up and running without any tweaking or adjustments at all. Just read their instructions, it varies for each one.
For me, if I start with a stripped down ROM it takes me about 2 hours or more to install all of my apps and tweaks. For the fully featured ROMs like Dutty's, you can be ready to go in 20-30mins.
I installed the HTC stock ROM on my Tilt for the same reason I install reference drivers for my video card:
1. They are more true to the manufacturer's specifications.
2. There are more frequent and faster updates available.
Number 2 was the most important for me, even though HTC has not released an updated ROM yet...but when they do, I know that I can install it and it will be closer to what I have been using.
I had the Tilt ROM installed for a few weeks before I reverted to the HTC ROM. I also installed the HTC customizations on the Tilt ROM and played with that for a while. I noticed slight differences between the applications like the HTC Home application UI behavour has minor differences. There was also more available memory on the HTC ROM from the Tilt ROM even after I cancelled the Tilt customizations from installing.
Oh here is a neat program to help you test different ROMs without losing your contacts, SMS, call history etc.
PIM Backup
Have to throw my 2 cents in also.
Just got the Tilt last month,and after my initial fear of flashing(and succesfully installing HARDSPL) I've flashed lots of these ROM's too. I however, have to agree with Pops_G, the best solution I've found has been a "clean ROM" and customize it the way I want. I prefer the ATT versions over the monochrome/big clock/UGLY UI that the Kaiser ones have. I've been using Kyphur's Tilt XDA-Live v1.1 and love it. It provides the most storage of ANY of the custom ROMs and has the newest radio also. It shows a significant difference in my area;where the signal borders on weak.
Alemaker
Ok, these kinds of opinions and comments are really helping out. I think I'm gonna do this:
1) When the Tilt comes (today!) I'll play with the AT&T stock ROM for a while and get a feel for it.
2) Then, I'm going to flash Dutty's ROM - it has just about everything and it will give me a chance to look at everything from the Cube to the HTC apps and everything else. In general, I like to strip things out of my systems rather than bloat it out, but this sounds like an easy way to check it all out in one go.
3) Most likely I'll be want to install Tilt XDA Lite once I've had a chance to fool around with the others. With a clean start like that I can install the apps I want and get the thing fast/stable for good.
Sounds like fun! Here I go..
dhecker said:
Ok, these kinds of opinions and comments are really helping out. I think I'm gonna do this:
1) When the Tilt comes (today!) I'll play with the AT&T stock ROM for a while and get a feel for it.
2) Then, I'm going to flash Dutty's ROM - it has just about everything and it will give me a chance to look at everything from the Cube to the HTC apps and everything else. In general, I like to strip things out of my systems rather than bloat it out, but this sounds like an easy way to check it all out in one go.
3) Most likely I'll be want to install Tilt XDA Lite once I've had a chance to fool around with the others. With a clean start like that I can install the apps I want and get the thing fast/stable for good.
Sounds like fun! Here I go..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give yourself some time with each Rom (a few days) to really get a feel for it. Also know that your battery is going to be crap for a couple of weeks until it is properly "conditioned" so don't even include that in your comparison.
Another thing you need to consider what are you looking to gain from using a cooked rom? While it can be nice to have a lot of apps mixed in once there is a new version of an app you have to either flash an updated rom or install the update over the cooked version in which case you are now losing memory as the files in the rom can't really be deleted (only marked as such)...
kypher: Thanks for your input. I am interest in your comment about having apps in the rom, space, etc.
Am I understanding that when there are apps built into the rom, those apps can't really be updated/upgraded/(deleted?) without reflashing the rom?
So, with a stripped down rom could a user install the various apps and have the ability to upgrade/uninstall/delete those apps whenever they wanted to?
That seems like a major advantage to using a lite rom then building it up on your own, which is looking more and more like the way to go! Any clarification appreciated.
dhecker said:
Am I understanding that when there are apps built into the rom, those apps can't really be updated/upgraded/(deleted?) without reflashing the rom?
So, with a stripped down rom could a user install the various apps and have the ability to upgrade/uninstall/delete those apps whenever they wanted to?
That seems like a major advantage to using a lite rom then building it up on your own, which is looking more and more like the way to go! Any clarification appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically you can update (or even delete) the apps that are cooked in BUT... you've already paid in storage space for the files. When you upgrade the cooked files are marked as deleted so the files from the cab can overwrite them BUT... the files can't actually be deleted so if you have a 4MB program (like MS Voice Command) cooked in and you get an upgrade then you are actually paying 8MB of storage for the program now.
In short, even though the files are marked as deleted and you phone acts like they are deleted, you can't recover the memory they used if the files are cooked into the Rom. This is the primary reason I'm stripping XDA Live down as close to the undershorts as I can.
Well, the phone came this afternoon and I've been fooling around with it ever since. So far, so good!
I like the AT&T Tilt setup a lot. But, being a long-time geek I just couldn't resist and now I'm flashing Dutty's Tilt Rom. I'll play with that for a while, then maybe think about a long-term setup. It's kind of nice being able to flash the rom as I don't have to worry too much about screwing up the configuration since I can reflash at any time.
much fun! thanks everyone
I would like to try different ROMs as well, but I would like to be able to go back to ATT Tilt ROM if need be. How can I backup my original ATT ROM, so that I can flash back to it, if I needed to?
Hey fellas, after getting more and more frustrated with my Fuze and having more and more issues with freezing when opening the keyboard etc, I've decided to throw this phone in the corner, grab another one (brand new) throw my att sim card in and start over. So I had a clean install, and now I have updated the ROM to the newest one available from HTC here:
http://www.htc.com/us/SupportDownload.aspx?p_id=198&cat=2&dl_id=553
Now that I have done this, I want to get rid of the crap and just have it nice and clean, with no ATT branding or extras etc. I just want a nice clean black, non buggy TouchFlo, does such a thing exist? I looked in the ROM section and I see alot of custom stuff but Im not sure what I should be trying or avoiding based on what i want. Any suggestions?
Also I need to get some of the old apps I used to have that let me disable the startup sounds etc, can anyone point me in the right direction for those?
One of the cooked ROMs will do your Fuze wonders.
I personally like the Energy series ROMs, 'Photon' is the most current release.
If you end up flashing a custom ROM, read first. Read the stickys in the ROMs forum, also read the release note from the cook (usually in post 2+ of the topic in which the ROM is posted) and fianlly do a search in the ROM topic if you have a problem. People will post fixes in the ROM topic as well.
When it comes to tweaking or customizing you Fuze, I like to use Advanced Config. TouchPro Tweak is another good one. I know for a fact that both of these are included in Photon.
When all else fails, search the forums
Hope this helps.
Just a few questions guys. Sorry if it has been discussed before. But, I'm coming from an HD2 and am thinking about getting an AT&T Inspire. Since the Inspire is a native Android device, it probably doesn't suffer the same bugs that the HD2 did when it has Android on it does it? In particular when you ran a Sense 3 rom on it, you would have trouble with graphic glitches. I'm guessing you don't have that problem with this phone? Is there some other known bugs that you face when you run a custom rom on the Inspire? I loved my HD2 so much that I had to get a comparable newer model of phone. I just felt it was time to get an actual Android native phone because of the various issues that I ran into. Also, if I root the Inspire will I be able to get rid of the AT&T bloatware if I choose to stick with the stock rom? I was running my HD2 on AT&T so I could only get EDGE with it and I got tired of the slow internet when I was not in a wifi area. Thanks for your answers!
Egrier said:
Just a few questions guys. Sorry if it has been discussed before. But, I'm coming from an HD2 and am thinking about getting an AT&T Inspire. Since the Inspire is a native Android device, it probably doesn't suffer the same bugs that the HD2 did when it has Android on it does it? In particular when you ran a Sense 3 rom on it, you would have trouble with graphic glitches. I'm guessing you don't have that problem with this phone? Is there some other known bugs that you face when you run a custom rom on the Inspire? I loved my HD2 so much that I had to get a comparable newer model of phone. I just felt it was time to get an actual Android native phone because of the various issues that I ran into. Also, if I root the Inspire will I be able to get rid of the AT&T bloatware if I choose to stick with the stock rom? I was running my HD2 on AT&T so I could only get EDGE with it and I got tired of the slow internet when I was not in a wifi area. Thanks for your answers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're partial to CM7 based roms, not sure if this is a problem across the board for all devices, but at least on the Inspire CM7 roms don't like to read your SIM card, so back up your contacts to gmail and sync if you want to use a CM7 ROM.
I've used ARHD, Bindroid and Absolution. I have tried just about every rom there is on the Inspire but these 3 seem to be the most stable, a lot of support and just an overall great time. This isn't to say the other roms out there are terrible, I just fancy these and as anyone will tell you, different strokes for different folks. Your best bet, if you do get the Inspire, try all the roms out and see what best fits you, what minor bugs you can deal with and ones you can't. You'll find out very quickly what you're willing to live with and what you're willing to do without! Each ROM is not totally bugless, each have their share of little bugs and honestly the devs do a great job at fixing them and keeping their respective ROMs up to date (or at least the ones I have mentioned, again this isn't to say the other roms don't..I just use these consistently and can only attest to what they do). There use to be an audio issue but many roms have since fixed that. If you do get an inspire, the Desire HD is the same model phone pretty much and thus many of those roms can be flashed onto our device, if you take that route for whatever reason, you'll need to find the audio fix.
Thanks for the information. I think I will stick to the Inspire roms instead of the DHD ones. I'm a bit more partial to the Sense roms than the vanilla ones. I really like Sense. Yeah, I found that out with the HD2 running android. You had to try several roms out to see which one had the fewest most tolerable bugs. As far as roms not wanting to read the sim card, I always have a backup of my contacts on gmail. I thought it was convenient when I flashed a rom and signed in with my google account it would sync them all back to the phone.
Egrier said:
Thanks for the information. I think I will stick to the Inspire roms instead of the DHD ones. I'm a bit more partial to the Sense roms than the vanilla ones. I really like Sense. Yeah, I found that out with the HD2 running android. You had to try several roms out to see which one had the fewest most tolerable bugs. As far as roms not wanting to read the sim card, I always have a backup of my contacts on gmail. I thought it was convenient when I flashed a rom and signed in with my google account it would sync them all back to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! I'm partial to sense roms as well but every now and then my CM7 inner child wants to have some fun. I typically keep to Bindroid (releases aren't as frequent and the following is small but man do they put out a really really stable rom). ARHD is another sense favorite of mine, also very stable, great development and a lot of mods/themes/add-ons. I use Absolution for my CM7 fix...again, great development,friendly group over there too!
Cool, I will be sure and check those out.
I also noticed with this phone you don't need to partition your nand everytime you switch out a rom. As a matter of fact you don't do that at all. That is a plus!!
does any one know of a rom for inspire that is like the 3dna software for computer its a vertual room that you click on stuff like a game console to get to you game apps and a desk with a phone and light and rol0dex where you can get to your phone to make calls and the light would be your flash light and rolodex you can get your contacts and so on and so on its a 3d of a room where your buttons to access your phone and apps are in the room go look at 3dna on the computer and you will see what im talking about if someone can make one like that for are smartphones that would be cool i have a htc inspire running on ics and my cam works to thanks to lord clockan i use the htc desire hd rom any way if some comes up with a rom like im talking about plz send me a link or a qr code for it would be cool to
vansickle6 said:
does any one know of a rom for inspire that is like the 3dna software for computer its a vertual room that you click on stuff like a game console to get to you game apps and a desk with a phone and light and rol0dex where you can get to your phone to make calls and the light would be your flash light and rolodex you can get your contacts and so on and so on its a 3d of a room where your buttons to access your phone and apps are in the room go look at 3dna on the computer and you will see what im talking about if someone can make one like that for are smartphones that would be cool i have a htc inspire running on ics and my cam works to thanks to lord clockan i use the htc desire hd rom any way if some comes up with a rom like im talking about plz send me a link or a qr code for it would be cool to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried reading this... couldn't find any use of the "." key or the "Shift"
WTF, Over?
Try rum runner or android revolution
Zombies ate my Inspire
vansickle6 said:
does any one know of a rom for inspire that is like the 3dna software for computer its a vertual room that you click on stuff like a game console to get to you game apps and a desk with a phone and light and rol0dex where you can get to your phone to make calls and the light would be your flash light and rolodex you can get your contacts and so on and so on its a 3d of a room where your buttons to access your phone and apps are in the room go look at 3dna on the computer and you will see what im talking about if someone can make one like that for are smartphones that would be cool i have a htc inspire running on ics and my cam works to thanks to lord clockan i use the htc desire hd rom any way if some comes up with a rom like im talking about plz send me a link or a qr code for it would be cool to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple answer is no. There is no rom that is like that. A search of the available roms would have told you this.
Thread closed
Hey all,
I am not a modder. I prefer my device to be stock as much as possible - I know, not very XDA-like. I am not averse to doing it if necessary.
TMo gave me the MT4G Slide as a replacement device for the MT4G which was having issues. It seems that neither phones are getting an ICS/JB update (as HTC hasn't mentioned it on their list of phones officially getting the update).
I'm curious as to any hardware constraints that the Doubleshot may have to have lead to this decision. Some folks have mentioned the amt. of storage being the issue, but seeing as how these devices contain a 4GB chip and HTC has been quoted saying that this unusable space is due to GB and Sense, is this reason validated? Would ICS+Sense be that much more huge vs. GB+Sense as to not be able to fit in that ~2.5GB of space?
This has probably been a very badly beaten dead horse, but I did a search and couldn't really find anything referenced here on XDA. I see there's some moment on CM9 for the phone...but ultimately I want to know why HTC can't put ICS/JB on the device. It's an important factor in deciding to either stay loyal to the brand or move on to something different. I realize that it's an OEM (TMo branded phone) and that it may be up to TMobile to get it updated, which I'm assuming they would under their "no phone left behind" promise...maybe I assume incorrectly? TMobile hasn't said a thing on the matter.
I may go ahead and put CM9 on it once it's gone 100% stable.
Thanks.
It's not that they CAN'T upgrade to ICS/JB. They WON'T, for just about any reason you can make up. T-Mobile or HTC have not given any official word as to why not, so it could be due to anything.
Possible reasons include:
-Custom MyTouch skin
-T-Mobile holding the update back
-Our phone is essentially a commercial flop. Probably why they're not supporting it. Consequently, we're not a big enough community to make a difference anyway.
-They simply want you to buy another phone.
There is no physical reason they won't do it. Our phone has nearly the same internals as the Sensation 4G. It's still a high spec phone and can handle anything. Hardware is not the problem here. It's the higher ups.
I would like to add that if you don't want to wait, TBalden's Virtuious Inquisition has always been a rock solid ICS ROM for me. NEVER a hiccup even though there have been a few complain of an issue or two. But it will most likely always be that way with any ROM.....even the official releases.
There are a couple of ICSs by UndeadK9 on Rootz Wiki too that are slick. Then there is MikMiui ICS that is soooo close it's scary! KWIM? You HAVE choices right now.
ICS natively doesn't support Hardware Keyboards. That's why our device is under review by HTC/T-Mobile. HTC is willing to push an update, but T-Mobile has it on hold. So it's T-Mobiles fault, not HTC. How do I know this? Worked places, and have numbers.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk 2
Wow good topic I was just about to ask this because Ive been thinking about this for days now. Seeing the Galaxy 3 makes me crave that OS its really nice. I cant believe this phone flopped in the market its heaps good I love it, this with the droid look really solid with a slide out qwerty. So iffffff TMobile is holding out on the update is it possible that they will release it? or times gone by no chance of this? Im like the TC, Ive never modded a phone and dont know how to do it, but iffffffff I have to put ICS mod what is the best and closest to the real thing and is solid and does not have many bugs etc.? Like if this was your phone you are selling to the world which mod would you add to it? If TMob dont release one I might try attempting my first mod and if anyone can help me out with helpful links or pics as a walkthrough so I dont brick it much appreciated
As someone who spent a good deal of time with sense 4 I can say the only thing I miss from the mysense is the integrated visual voicemail. The positive changes out weighed the loss of the integrated vvm.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium
Archangel, if you do decide you want to root your device this is a fairly new but extremely comprehensive, simple & straightforward guide that will give you every bit of info you need to do that. Should you run into a problem, just come back with some specific questions about that parts you don't understand and "we'll git 'er done".
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1801106
If I were to recommend an ICS ROM for you to cut your teeth on it would be TBalden's Virtuous Inquisition. http://www.virtuousrom.com/p/inquisition.html This one will let you see what you've been missing on your DS. Good Luck and have a BALL! :good:
If you're looking for a pared down, screaming fast & smooth version of your stock ROM.....MikTouch & BulletProof are VERY tough to beat. (both in the developers section) Just remember that any questions not directly related to a ROM function or issue should always go here in General.
What is the difference between the roms? Like compared to the Galaxy 3 does it have the slick icons that slide and glide easy from screen to screen? and I think its called the live wallpaper when you swipe left or right the image hovers? also kinda like that fish wallpaper they have that has the trickle effect is neat, I noticed the apps menus are different to the Mytouch and smoother. I dont know what you mean by fast, do some of the roms make the OS lag and jaggy?
Personally, I think of fast as responsive.....smooth as changing functions & desktops, etc. But to each their own in descriptive terms, I guess. As far as differences go, I'm not familiar with the Galaxy but each ROM really has a personality of it's own except maybe in comparing ports from other devices.
THAT'S why you will probably become like the rest of us......Flashaholics! LOL
Oh Yeah....then you have THEMES! :laugh: