Just interested. This is an eagerly awaited os. I was wondering, why? What makes it so different from maemo. If you've tried it I would love to know. I don't have the knowledge to try it myself is why I'm asking.

it's not that it's "so different", maemo is basically getting discontinued, and this is the only OS that we can switch to without losing everything we are used to.

there is nothing special and interesting for the end users yet because we really dont know what the OEM manufacturers are going to add to the game and how they are going to present it.
So far all this MEEGO is a great OS is only limited to developers. It is the easiest OS for the devs to work with.
I still have not seen any point or anything that will be the interest of end users who will not be involved in making apps, logging in bugzilla or on any kind of improvement of the OS.
I think all this hype you see in the forums is because this forum is full of the devs who are very keen and have a lot of interest in the development of the platform.

One-sentence question, One-article answer.

MeeGo project is basically aiming to get a full-blown desktop Linux (eg the famous Ubuntu) into an Operating System for ALL DEVICES.

What this means, is we can put the power and potential of a full computer (ie the large desktop) into the palm of your hands, without limits* but also in a manner that will make sense (easy for users, easy for developers, easy for vendors).

(Unlike Ubuntu on HD2; is a novelty and not useful as a daily system)

This means A LOT OF WORK.

Because they have to:
Cut off, trim and shape those "legacy" codes which aren't popular/used/useful.
Create a system in which the software works (ie the layers, drivers etc)
Develop new tools for people to make programs
Package things together so everything is consistent
Make a User Interface/Experience people in general would accept

But the hardest part is, they have to make it PROFITABLE (like Android, but not solely relying on ad's).

Then there's the other stuff that also make it challenging:
Differentiate themselves (not an iOS copy/Android copy/webOS etc)
Keep it Open Source (unlike Android which is semi-open)
Create devices with it and iron out the kinks
Political jargon, carriers, stuff etc
Onlook the future (so making improvements could be easy/prevent nasties/limit fragmentation etc)

So far, after careful examination of RIM, WebOS, iOS, WP7, Android (2.1 -> 3.0) ... MeeGo has the BEST chance at making itself survive the longterm, be *perfect* from the start and good enough to compete with all current alternatives. This is my personal view, as well as the views from >70% of analysts.
The biggest challenge for MeeGo is to GET IT RIGHT, and then SPREAD.

If MeeGo were not to GET IT RIGHT (ie it is only as good as Android), it wont compete aggressively in a very gruesome business, most likely will fail with reviewers as well as the buyers.
If MeeGo GOT IT RIGHT, but was too late into the game (vs Android,vs WP7,vs Individuals) it won't SPREAD at an acceptable rate, the vendors will lose out, MeeGo will lose supporters, the project will fail (failure = not successful).

*Without limits means just that. For instance, psx emulation when somewhat optimized should run fullspeed on a device as powerful as the N900, whereas it takes twice that power for it to run fullspeed on Android due to the Dalvik engine processing things at a much slower pace

to the end user - nothing

given that you did not know this - i think you are an end-user, so dont bother with it until actual functioning meego devices are released.