[lemmiwinks]

actually there's something that's always been bugging me about all these "new OS" versions... it seems to me that in reality they aren't new at all, just different versions of the same OS adapted for different carriers. In which case we're all better off just keeping the latest official version speficially made for our carriers, rather than constantly updating OSes that weren't designed for our carriers in the first place. Am I right or am I missing something here?

[xliderider]

I thought the OS builds were all compatible carrier to carrier as well, until recently.

I have found the latest two 8330 OS builds to be problematic when loaded on Verizon devices (.138 and .160). This would seem to indicate that there is something different about the way Verizon has their network set up.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[_Relic]

actually there's something that's always been bugging me about all these "new OS" versions... it seems to me that in reality they aren't new at all, just different versions of the same OS adapted for different carriers. In which case we're all better off just keeping the latest official version speficially made for our carriers, rather than constantly updating OSes that weren't designed for our carriers in the first place. Am I right or am I missing something here?

You're missing something. The versions are in fact new(contain new code) and are not made specifically for one carrier. RIM makes the OS and submits it to all carriers. Those carriers then decide if they want to use it. Some do some don't, AT&T for instance ver rarely issues an updated. These newer verisions at times work/function much better than previous ones. Which is why people want to upgrade to them as soon as possible.
You should do what makes you happy. You carrier will not give support if you're using a version they haven't issued. But most get their answers here instead of at the carrier.

[cdf3]

Sometimes the version carriers support has bugs in it. The latest version that Verizon supports had speaker blast issues on my phone. The problem was resolved when I upgraded to an unsupported version.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[greydarrah]

Usually, the latest versions are improvements, fixing known issues from previous versions. However, there will be times (though I believe them to be infrequent) when new problems in the new code may make an OS perform poorly. The great thing about these BB's is that you can always go backwards or forwards. I think it's a good idea to wait a day or 2 after a leak to see how it doing. If it seems mostly OK (there will always be people with problems), install it. If you run it for a couple of days and it's doing well for you, go back.