Got a new phone from Asurion

[YamiYaiba]

The touchscreen of my VX6900 (WM6.0) just bit it, and I just got my Asurion replacement. To my surprise, the replacement is running WM 6.1, and the data displayed on boot (firmware info???) is different than my old one. So, now that I've got a fresh new VX6900 running WM6.1, I have a few questions. And please forgive my lack of knowledge. There's so much info (not all up to date either) that I can't figure out what's what anymore.

1) What does this mean for the GPS? Should it work now?

2) What apps, cube mods, and other tweaks should I be running?

3) Is the SMS in WM6.1 any different than text messaging? (ie different charges on my bill)

I was rather unhappy with the setup on my old phone. Most of the tweaks from when I set it up were for Sprint models, and this caused me trouble to no end. I could never really figure out how to remove the Sprint only apps from Vistacube and whatnot. I'd appreciate any help that member would be willing to offer. Finally, I'm a cheapskate. I don't want to pay for WinMo software if I can help it. Freeware suggestions are highly appreciated, but not required.