[mgholley]

Long time reader, first time caller.

I consider myself fairly tech savvy. I'm an MCSE and have been for 10+ years. I'm comfortable with windows but have played on mac and linux.

I think I basically understand "cooking" ROMS vs. installing apps, but some things confuse me. I'm working to try and iron out some of the reasons for pushing a whole new ROM, but any hints to noob posts or FAQ which discuss why someone should/would choose to build their own ROM, use another's ROM vs just installing the preferred apps would be helpful.

My biggest problem, I guess, is the confusion I always have working in a forum format for finding applications. It isn't specific to PPCGeeks by any means, but it is one of the places where I guess I'd like to see if things could be done differently. Understandably, some people try to stay out of the iPhone, WM Device debate. However, one thing that seems to be undeniable is the ease with which iPhone users can find new applications and install them. I'm wondering if there is anyone (or a group) that has considered changing the format for places like PPCGeeks and/or XDA-Developers to make application presentation a bit more logical.

For example, if I'm curious about finding a new contact manager for my phone, my best bet is to type "Contact Manager" into the Forum Search feature and then begin the long painful seach through ~480 threads to hopefully find information about a contact manager. It may or may not work on my phone, it may not be what I'm looking for (sometimes its difficult to track down the OP of an application or to find screen shots & detailed descriptions). There have been many times where I have come to PPCGeeks thinking "oo, I'd like to try out a new contact manager" only to leave 30min later frustrated because I couldn't find what I was looking for. A majority of my time was wasted by getting directed to custom ROMS, "cooking" tips, and sometimes outdated links to the actual application itself. I learn that in order to run the application I have to essentially re-install the phone OS, wipe clear all of my text/call history and re-sync all of my info with the exchange server and MS Live account. In other words, a big pain in the butt to simply try a new application.

Now I realize I could go out there and buy/try a variety of 3rd party applications...but I'm really more interested in the free one's which are developed in open source by the community.

IMHO, wouldn't it be much nicer if there were a downloads/apps tab to the forum? Much like tucows.com or download.com...applications are sorted by category...provide screen shots...ratings...version information..etc.? I had high hopes when SprintMogul.net first came out, but it never really seemed to take off. Most of the software on there is seriously outdated and very limited. Have there been discussions about doing such a thing here at PPCGeeks? I think that it would probably help the WM community as a whole and help us to "recruit" folks who go to iPhones simply because they get so confused trying to navigate forums as a way to try applications. There is some really neat stuff out there, but the way its presented, I believe, scares off quite a few potential users. They run off an buy iPhones because they can click their way through applications while we have to spend hours and hours researching before we can even install some of them.

So, I guess my two questions are this: 1) Is there a FAQ or thread that discusses why someone would bother with a complete OS re-install (ROM) to simply get a few apps on their phone? I understand the need when moving from WM 5.x to 6.1 or to 6.5....but in most other cases is seems like a real headache. 2) Is there someone (or a group) that might be open to re-working part of the site into a more user friendly and accessible format for finding/dowloading applications?

Thanks, and I DO appreciate all the hard work by folks on the site. I don't want to come accross as sounding like I'm unhappy, but I've found that sometimes these developer forums can get user-unfriendly. They are frequented by a smaller group of very knowledge people who are very experienced at what they are doing and don't realize/have forgotten how steep the learning curve can become for some potential "allies" that would help make WM Devices more accessible and popular.

Thanks for your help.