[LVracerGT]

First off, I love my Blackberry. I got my Storm last year and has been my favorite phone since. But I had a look at the Droid Incredible yesterday. And it seems to do everything my Storm does, including email... but better... it WORKS.

Now, I'm not bashing Blackberry. But I pose the question, if OS6 is just gonna be the same headache that 4.7 and 5.0 have been, what's to stop me from jumping ship to the Droid?

[Kirblar]

Well, I doubt it will have the same headaches. Just remember, no OS is perfect. That is why they get updated all the time. There will ALWAYS be some kinks in it. From what I've seen about OS 6 though, it looks awesome. I'm still on S1, but I'm getting S2 soon enough.
As for jumping onto the Droid wagon, its all up to you at the end of the day. Nothing we say can stop you, just advice, so to say. Whatever you do I hope works out for you, Cheers.

[Krypto]

At this point, there's nothing stopping you from doing anything. Unfortunately none of us have had an actual opportunity to play with BlackBerry 6, meaning that none of us can accurately tell you if the new OS is what we're all looking for or not.

Here's the thing you need to remember, the new BlackBerry 6 still has to maintain it's high security and enterprise requirements. This is what BlackBerry is ultimately known for and they still make the majority of their money from Enterprise.

That said though, I think it is going in the right direction. The big question is how big these steps are going to be. The new UI looks pretty good and I'm personally looking forward to it. But how important is the UI to you? And remember, even if you decide to stick it out for BlackBerry 6, you're still going to be looking at buying a new phone as the original Storm very likely will not see an upgrade to BlackBerry 6.

[JasonM.]

Remember all they hype last year about how good 5.0 was supposed to be? Well after .591 builds available to the 9530 it is marginally better than what 4.7 could have been with a couple fixes. The threaded SMS still sucks, so I'm using crunchSMS which is awesome. BBM chats wont open sometimes or won't bring up the keyboard, it eats memory as soon as you install any app. Mark my word, 6 is going to be another java catastrophe with a different front end. They optimize the platform and break the applications, or vice versa. The only time BB stands a chance is when the applications and platform are one, and they knock off the BS building and have a real OS and not an abstraction layer with a pile of garbage on top.

[sfobrien]

I'm in the exact same position as many here. I can upgrade in July. Still on my original S1. I want to see how OS6 does. I am going to pick up an S2 somehere when it offically drops and not get locked in a new contract for awhile. And if I like it hold out until the S3 comes out (if it does).

For now I suggest those still using their S1 load up .591 and lyricidal's latest hybrid. It makes the S1 a much better device.

Good luck.

[Toochief]

I had the droid incred. and could not stand two things: Keyboard and battery life. I use my storm2 for both business and personal and the BB was SO much easier and quicker for me to type and battery life between the two was NO comparrison. My wife is now enjoying the droid and I am anxiously awaiting the OS6 for my BB.

[AJFSTORM]

This is how RIM manages to hold on to their customers; the hope that the next OS version will be a the one, something that is closer to what the competition already has. Or that the Storm3 will be what the Storm 1 should have been. And don't forget, it's a moving target. As soon as RIM catches up to what's out there today, the competition has advanced a few more notches. (Look at all the raves in the press right now for Froyo .)

Do yourself a favor and stop waiting for the future to arrive at RIM. The future already exists on the Android platform. The Incredible really is Incredible.

[jeffmeden]

First off, I love my Blackberry. I got my Storm last year and has been my favorite phone since. But I had a look at the Droid Incredible yesterday. And it seems to do everything my Storm does, including email... but better... it WORKS.

Now, I'm not bashing Blackberry. But I pose the question, if OS6 is just gonna be the same headache that 4.7 and 5.0 have been, what's to stop me from jumping ship to the Droid?

All you've done here is begged the question. What's broken with the storm 1/2 and/or OS 5.0? And, what do you know is broken in 6.0? If you don't want to (or can't) answer that, then yes you will be happier just getting an android phone. Remember, there are a million people who are fine with how the Storm works, and if you're not one of them then all the OS magic in the world won't help you.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but such a fallacious argument won't get you any closer to discovering the truth.

[Krypto]

And don't forget, even despite all the raves for Android, they aren't perfect either and you can bet that a lot of people find a lot of glitches. It just that for now, its still a new enough system that most either aren't noticing them or don't care. Even the iPhone is starting to get more and more bugs/security risks, etc. No platform is perfect.

Oh, and for those complaining about .591, downgrade. Its not an official OS for a reason, so what makes you think you should expect better? For all we know, it could be an OS that was being used to test what a new line of coding broke. We don't know where it came from so we don't know what its purpose is.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jetman1287]

Android has far, far superior app support and phone performance. Typing isn't as nice as the Storm but BB lags so far behind I don't know if it can ever catch up. It will most likely settle into a purely business phone and a distant 3rd overall for consumers.

[LVracerGT]

Well, I'll have to see what 6.0 looks like on a Storm 2 then. Maybe a S3 since my contract isn't up until January. Otherwise I'll probably be jumping ship. It's a shame BB can't seem to get it right. Just getting tired of installing a different OS every month or so to see if the hybrids make the phone any better.

[jetman1287]

We aren't completely sure how OS 6 will run. But even if it's as fast as Android, we are still lacking app support for the phone. Also, RIM has a history of failed software updates. I'm skeptical. They need to improve the app situation ASAP.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Krypto]

jetman, why do you say that RIM has a history of failed software updates or anything similar? The software updates work. There may be some glitches, but they work (note, don't forget, you can't include leaks in your list as they are not official). If you want to blame someone for releasing an OS update that doesn't work correctly, look at your carrier. They do the testing for RIM and if they miss various features, it's because they aren't catching it.

[jeffmeden]

The bottom line is that for the most part, BB customers don't buy a whole lot of farting, gun noise, or sudoku apps. They buy their phone, it works for them, and they spend their time on other things. Hoping for the app ecosystem for BB to become what Apple has is like saying you want the dentist office to be more like the circus. A circus might be more fun, but you don't want to get a cavity drilled in a tent filled with elephants.

Bad analogy? Oh well.

[chuckh0308]

Android still has quite a few bugs. You start discovering them once you spend some time with it (bluetooth connection problems come to mind here...). That said, Android 2.1 is (IMO) a better OS than BB 5.0 overall. I suspect that BB6 will be better than Android 2.1, but Android 2.2 will probably destroy everyone. But, as already pointed out, none of us have actually touched BB6 or Android 2.2!

[jetman1287]

jetman, why do you say that RIM has a history of failed software updates or anything similar? The software updates work. There may be some glitches, but they work (note, don't forget, you can't include leaks in your list as they are not official). If you want to blame someone for releasing an OS update that doesn't work correctly, look at your carrier. They do the testing for RIM and if they miss various features, it's because they aren't catching it.

The OS on BB's today is only marginally better than it was two years ago. I used to think it was the carrier's fault for stalling...but even the leaks from RIM suck...

[Krypto]

Of course the leaks from RIM aren't perfect (by the way, they aren't actually leaks from RIM... they're OSes that were created by RIM that were leaked by a tester). You weren't meant to get them and the fact that they haven't gone official should say a lot to you. They may have been released to testers to test a specific function, not necessarily even for carrier approval. They didn't go official for a reason. But one thing is for sure, we don't know the whole story, therefore we shouldn't be going and stating it's crap, because we don't know what it's purpose was.

By the way, as a heads up, you don't necessarily see a lot of the change on OS 5.0. But there were a lot of back-end changes meant to focus on enterprise functionality. Even I didn't find out about a lot of the changes until this April at WES. There will be more back end changes with OS 6.0 which are still meant primarily for BES customers and admins, but we should see more front end changes as well which may do a bit more to appease the consumer (BIS) clients.

Just remember, it's never as simple a situation as you might think. Trust me, every time I find out more info, I find out just how little I actually know. If only it was that simple.

(Of course, the latest .591 leak might have been for carrier release testing, in which case, it's yet another buggy OS, but the point is that we don't know. And if you exclude a couple of minor glitches (which have easy work arounds), .419 was actually a fairly solid OS).

[littlegreenmen]

Android still has quite a few bugs. You start discovering them once you spend some time with it (bluetooth connection problems come to mind here...). That said, Android 2.1 is (IMO) a better OS than BB 5.0 overall. I suspect that BB6 will be better than Android 2.1, but Android 2.2 will probably destroy everyone. But, as already pointed out, none of us have actually touched BB6 or Android 2.2!

Been on android since i got my nexus. Came with 2.1. Rooted it, loaded a cyan rom. The "test" version of 2.2 has been out a bit over a week now,loaded that when it came out and it runs very well. Coming from a storm myself and seeing what 5.0 was like and now seeing the glimpses of what 6.0 is appearing to be like i cant see anyway that it comes close to Android. How 6.0 might work on non touch BB devices is a different matter , im just talking in the touch screen aspect.

[GpCaptMandrake]

Do yourself a favor and stop waiting for the future to arrive at RIM. The future already exists on the Android platform. The Incredible really is Incredible.

That is just about the best post I have ever read here.

[squire72]

I have to laugh

the Android platform is still immature and incapable of many things BB users take for granted - sure they'll come eventually, but not this year.

But then... all the things that people love about Android will come to BB eventually too, if they're not already there.

[CrackBerry Storm meh]

Tip to future blackberry users: Wait.

OS6 is really just OS 5.1 or 5.2 (I believe...) - RIM is trying hype people up with a 'major OS upgrade' - I suppose they do not want to continue associating themselves with the disappointments of OS5. We all thought OS5 would be great... there are small improvements but nothing major.
It looks like this so far with OS6...
- New webkit browser
- New UI
- Still crappy amount of RAM on devices
- Little features, such as pinch zoom

Oh by the way RIM, what ever happened to hm... running applications from SD cards?

OS6 has not shown anything amazing yet. It shows improvement, but it is not close to surpassing its competitors when it comes to its browser, UI/smoothness, etc.

[SeatownGST]

I'm actually content to keep using the storm 1 with these hybrids until another round of android refreshes. since the storm 1 isn't getting OS 6 anyway, and I've gotten much better at doing a real *actual* wipe every now and then... the storm 1 is working pretty well.

[SocaZeus]

Remember all they hype last year about how good 5.0 was supposed to be? Well after .591 builds available to the 9530 it is marginally better than what 4.7 could have been with a couple fixes. The threaded SMS still sucks, so I'm using crunchSMS which is awesome. BBM chats wont open sometimes or won't bring up the keyboard, it eats memory as soon as you install any app. Mark my word, 6 is going to be another java catastrophe with a different front end. They optimize the platform and break the applications, or vice versa. The only time BB stands a chance is when the applications and platform are one, and they knock off the BS building and have a real OS and not an abstraction layer with a pile of garbage on top.

What he said. Get the android phone and leave the mediocrity that is RIM to the past where they belong. The Storm is an insult to their loyal customers.

[bgro]

Android definitley has bugs. I just got the EVO 4G and it lags, freezes, etc. Not that the Blackberry doesn't have these issues sometimes also but everytime I go to a new platform (iPhone, Android, etc) I always end up coming back to the Blackberry for one main reason...it is the best phone/messaging device and after the "wow" factor is over, that's primarily what I use my device for.

Not knocking Android at all..it's cool and so is the iPhone.

[Krypto]

Android definitley has bugs. I just got the EVO 4G and it lags, freezes, etc. Not that the Blackberry doesn't have these issues sometimes also but everytime I go to a new platform (iPhone, Android, etc) I always end up coming back to the Blackberry for one main reason...it is the best phone/messaging device and after the "wow" factor is over, that's primarily what I use my device for.

Not knocking Android at all..it's cool and so is the iPhone.

+1.

Great comment. It might not be king of the apps, but if you want a phone who's primary purpose is to communicate, BlackBerry is still an excellent choice. Is BlackBerry perfect? No. And when it comes to user preference, as we've seen here, that can swing from a light no (and mixed with "for my needs, yes") to a resounding no way in h*ll.

Ultimately each platform has its strengths and weaknesses, and no platform will ever be perfect as perfect is a sliding scale that differs for each person and their needs.