[mrfrosty]

1: URL exceptions are very important. Without that MMS will not work.
2: E-mail = Funambol. You can also have Gmail and Yahoo fowarded to you in the form of text messages.
3: Instant messenger = Palringo. Nuff said.
4:GPS = a lil registry tweaking. I get locks now IMMEDIATELY with NO priming with some 3rd party tool. The newest GoogleMaps finds 3-5 satellites in 2 to 4 seconds of opening the app. There was a whole thread on gps registry tweaks for every freakin' carrier except Cricket. I think someone did ask about it and was dismissed. I took the info provided and made a tweak of my own. I would now put my sat lock times up against anyones. Go Cricket!
5:You will find later that a full unlock is beneficial for many reasons. Get your spc code and make it all zeroes. If you want to use your stock rom (or even if you want to use a custom Sprint or Alltell rom for example) learn how to disable HTC Guardian or the default carrier settings will always continue to periodically overwrite yours.
6:Hate to see another Cricket guy struggling. I see no one has responded to these questions and frankly it's because they've all been answered several times over in many cases. You're actually closer than you think. Keep reading and good luck!