maemober

The N900 is a real shift in how you use a mobile phone.  As it’s not really a phone, the phone is just an app, as much as anything.  The Maemo interface has 4 modes, three navigations modes plus in an application.

You have:

1. The multi screen ‘desktop’ which holds widgets and shortcuts.
2. The application ‘icon’ menu, most like a traditional nokia grid view, though it has a fixed size initial screen then a scrolling ‘more’ screen.
3. The open apps menu. Whish shows thumbnails of all the applications that are running.
4. The current application running, when you are in an app, touching the icon in the corner allows you to access the main three modes.

At first, the switch between 1-3 is a little confusing.  You have to basically toggle between them with the icon in the top left corner.

You basically have to throw away your usual mobile habit, closing apps, to save memory.  It’s just not needed, and the interface is designed to navigate all your open apps, never quitting anything.  It’s a weird shift from the S60/android/Win Mo world, where you have to periodically check whats running, and quit some apps to let things work sans crash.