Ok, since I started it all...let me clarify...
Reading that thread over there...gave me the impression that the "official WinMo 6.5 ROM" that is being pushed by the carriers and HTC are NOT the business. In fact, most claimed that their TP2/Rhodium are running laggy.
I personally have RAN custom ROM's 6.1, 6.5, clean, loaded, before I upgraded I, too, was cooking my own ROM's using
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Calkulin's kitchens
Once I flashed my first 6.5 ROM, I never went back to 6.1. So true that there are ROM's out there that are less than stable. However, most are very stable and almost all out perform the standard carrier ROM. Important thing to remember too, is that most users never really run a truly stock ROM...with all the reg edits (cabbed up), UI tweaks, Opera tweaks, nueTools usage...by the end of the day, you're really running a custom ROM anyway.