[Superfly_FR]

Well, wen OS2 beta went out, I've been one of those who jumped on it, as I was sooo impatient to shed the light on what the future will be. I've been playing for a week with it, encountered problems, solved it with the help of the forum (thanks to all) and had a great time "hacking" and side-loading apps.
But this is my business tool, and I thought that I shouldn't rely on a beta software, as it could be a real issue for me to show with a "defective" device while in meetings. I went back to 1.0.7.

Then, the rumor, the acknowledgment of RIM OS 2 being delayed to Feb ...
... and the flush of bashes, pain cries, hanger, frustration, threats, lynching, divorce ...

But, finally I had a kind of illumination, resumed in one question.
"If OS2 had been released now, how would it have looked like ?"
And a simple answer : more or less, like the dev beta.

So I went back to the threads - resisting doing it "straight" just as I've done before - read, learned ... and finaly reinstalled 2.0, sequencing all the actions in the proper order, adding only what I needed (the more you get, the more it is likely unstable), the thing went well ... and I'm really enjoying it, stable an running 24/7.

What are the pro's of this ?

- Bored with tabbed UI ? no soucy, it's built-in and fully functional, I love the overall shortcuts (up to 6 icons)
- Think browsing could be a better experience ? Right: just try the "reader mode" in the browser. Want more ? Try some alternate navigator android app.
- If you want native email, get a simple mail android app
- If you want a better tool than "togo suite", checkout the officeSuitePro android app
- If you want some extra multimedia ... give a try to Winamp android app

What are the con's ?
Well, folks, it's beta. This should be sufficient, but I guess some of you are not familliar with this notion. It means that some end-user functions and tools are not available (video chat) and that some abnormal behavior may (will) occur (bridge). There are still some workarounds, but they will either "degrade" your experience or not work in your particular situation.
It also means that you may have to fine-tune some parameters (wifi, for instance) to make your device as reactive as it is over 1.0.7. In fact, no general advice is good here, as it depends strongly of what your environment is (phone, peripherals & router).

Some preliminary advices, prior to jump

- YOU have to read and search before you go; being this able & willing is a good test to know if you're "eligible" to run a beta thing.
- Prior to anything : BACKUP - BACKUP - BACKUP (is three times enough ?)
- After backup, do a security wipe before upgrading
- READ/print the warnings and FAQ on the OS2 beta registration page.
- Use beta NATIVE language and zone, i.e : English/US (always use native with beta, as a general advice). This will straight solve some problems for foreigners.

Ok, now it's up to you. Please don't ask for how-to, links, or chewed content. Use all the bad anger energy and convert it to good learning one ... and be proud of yourself with your Playbook running OS2, the "I did it" thing. May cost you a night but ...
"A vaincre sans p�ril, on triomphe sans gloire "

Enjoy your day and happy Halloween to all.

Edit : just wonder why/who rated this terrible ... at least he/she could have take 10th of the time it took me to write this down to argue about what made he/she feel so bad ... I balanced this by auto-evaluation, as it seems to me quite unfair.

[melander]

Your pros are itemized and most mention using android apps. Surely, there has to be some native pros?

[Superfly_FR]

Your pros are itemized and most mention using android apps. Surely, there has to be some native pros?

Well, I'd say an "overall experience" that is more intuitive, better looking and fluid ... but this, as such, is not - to me - a reason big enough to stay beta. I witness my experience, and these are the pros I had in mind. But I'm sure some will point out others (pros and cons).

I think it is really a personal choice, so I tried to keep this as personal as possible

[BuzzStarField]

Well, I'd say an "overall experience" that is more intuitive, better looking and fluid ... but this, as such, is not - to me - a reason big enough to stay beta. I witness my experience, and these are the pros I had in mind. But I'm sure some will point out others (pros and cons).

I think it is really a personal choice, so I tried to keep this as personal as possible

Thanks Super for your fullsome appraisal of the beta. For me, a Bridge that half-works and a browser that freezes and closes randomly are serious issues. If I weren't a developer, I would unload the beta in a heartbeat. And I'm saying this after applying all the workarounds and spending a good deal of time tweaking the Bridge.

Conclusion: Don't load the beta if you need the device for work or if Android apps are not a priority for you.

[chasvs]

Agree in many regards. OS 2.0 Dev Beta is better than OS 1.0 even if it does break some of the native apps. Android player is keeping this thing going for now.

[mike4444]

I'm about to get my playbook.....wd i need 32gb to deal with 2.0....2.0 is a software thing, right?

thanks

[Superfly_FR]

Thanks Super for your fullsome appraisal of the beta. For me, a Bridge that half-works and a browser that freezes and closes randomly are serious issues. If I weren't a developer, I would unload the beta in a heartbeat. And I'm saying this after applying all the workarounds and spending a good deal of time tweaking the Bridge.

Conclusion: Don't load the beta if you need the device for work or if Android apps are not a priority for you.

Well Buzz, you state exactly as I was when I decided to go back to 1.0.7.
But, I must admit that having all these workarounds (in fact 2: 1 for wifi and 1 for bridge) in mind and stopping going back and forward on my installed 2.0 (and 9900) to test/find workarounds made a quite clean install possible ... from clean 1.0.7.

So, maybe it worse a try, even for you, to backup your current 2.0, wipe PB, restart fresh install ... and maybe restore a few things.
One of the point that were IN MY CASE responsible for a lot of issues (browser hang/crash in particular) was wifi/network setup. But while I couldn't use WPS once OS2 installed, it has been done in a snap starting over a fresh install. Don't know why, how, etc. But it is.

Anyway, the mean of this is not "go for it !"
I think I kinda took a lot of precautions to prevent a bad move from anyone that's not ready for it ...

[Superfly_FR]

I'm about to get my playbook.....wd i need 32gb to deal with 2.0....2.0 is a software thing, right?
thanks

The 2.0 is a developer beta (means unfinished and not supported) Operating System.
I wouldn't advise you to go for it untill you have some knowledge of what your Playbook is and do.