I need your thoughts:
Situation: I have a new Sprint Touch Pro 2. Thus, it has 6.5 and sense 2.5. It looks real nice. The problem is usability. I didn't expect to find that when you have unread voice-mail, sms, mms, e-mail, etc., that there would be no functional indicators, other than the Egyptian hieroglyphics on the top, for unread voice, text, sms, and e-mail. I learned that in order to make the phone usable, one must turn off Sense, which I've done. That revealed the far better thought out standard Microsoft UI.
Current thoughts:
A. Stock ROM vs. GoodThings2Life vs. Custom ROM.
1. Do nothing. It works, and it's documented. Battery life is phenominal. I added in the task manager links, Bluetooth works great, and I made the registry edits necessary to get tethering working.
2. GoodThings2Life: Several of the settings I checked were already set that way, and it changes a some. I'm fine with tearing out the Sprint apps because they have proven to me that they are inferior and something I would never use again. With GoodThings2Life, I can put in only what I want to put in. (Actually, it removes their links)
3. Custom ROM: It appears the best is Mr. X
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/cdma-tp2-d...-5-0-92-a.html . A custom ROM would probably put in some programs that I'm likely to want, and remove the ones I don't. The way this route would make sense is if the custom ROM is actually better in a way that translates to improved usability.
B. User Interface:
It doesn't appear as though GoodThings2Life nor a custom ROM solve the Sense UI usability problem. Besides the standard MS interface, I've researched WisBar, Ultimate Launcher, and SPB Mobile Shell. It looks like the first two require a degree in computer mysteries to get where you want to go. The last one looks easier, but I don't see where any give me the functionality that I need on the Today/Home screen. I also don't find anything that fixes the Sense Today screen so I can see relevant information, rather than big icons, nor allows me to define which apps have shortcuts when I scroll down below that.
Summary:If you have some ideas of how to get where I need to go, let me know.
Thanks!