I bet you know exactly the sinking feeling I got in the last few days as I read about broken widgets in pannable areas and broken dialogs in portrait mode ... and then I started to get responses to my inquiries about OpenGL... I set my rose-coloured glasses down very slowly, very sadly.

Boy, I was hoping for that July release, too. But I think it would be insane for them to release in a month.

Some little piece of me hopes there's an ace up the sleeve here, but I doubt it. I just can't see it.

1. Faster processor OMAP generation 3 (N900) compared to generation 2 (N97)
2. Double RAM memory 256 MB (N900) compared to 128 MB (N97)
3. 3D applications and OpenGL (3D fast games) supported by N900 processor
4. OpenOffice and KOffice (Word, spreadsheet, presentations PPT) for free in N900 compared to 30$-40$ QuickOffice in N97
5. Hundreds of free good applications for Maemo N900 and potential more hundreds from Linux community (including potential to have Google G1 application framework ported to Maemo) compared to almost not many good free application on Symbian.
6. Very good internet browsers FireFox , etc on Maemo, compared to not very performant browser on Symbian.
7. Full Java support for Maemo not only a subset like is for Symbian.
8. Full Flash support for Maemo, not just a mobile version like is for Symbian.
9. Easy to program Maemo compared to hard to program Symbian Carbide C. - more applications for N900 in future.
10. 800 x 480 resolution means VGA videos will not be shrinked, which is better quality watching videos and all the games and applications. (N900 has 800x480 and N97 has 640x360)
11. Command line is very important, because you can package quickly anything, run a Pearl or a shell batch file and you can install anything, you can update libraries and modules, install frameworks and do a lot of stuff.
12. Video recording is 800x480 on N900 which is better than 640x480 on N900
13. qole noted that Maemo 5 is "swishier" and very next-generation, with lots of transparency, 3D effects, swishing and swooping windows, etc. That tends to appeal to gadget hounds.
14. Linux is a solid OS, where Symbian is only a mobile OS.
15. Linux community is greater than Symbian's
16. Linux Maemo has many Virtual Machines (VM) which can run from Windows to different other systems.
17. Maemo has better remote connection applications, and with bigger resolution of N900 and much more memory (needed here) N900 will clearly subclass N97 in this category.
18. More printer drivers and other drivers in Linux.Maemo than Symbian. Linux cames from computer to mobile so it has more USB capabilities.

This what came to my mind right now. Maybe there are many other advantages. One advantage N97 has is the tilt screen, which is very nice. :-)

Puh-lease.

The OMAP3430 is easily 2-3x faster than that ARM11 for most tasks, and orders of magnitude more for the more specific tasks that benefit from things like DSP acceleration, 3D acceleration, and SIMD (NEON). Symbian's RAM usage sure isn't anything to write home about as my 5800 has to regularly close applications due to memory constraints whereas my N800 never does.

You're severally deluded if you think Linux somehow negates that kind of performance bump compared to Symbian.

If nokia was going to announce the phone in september, would they let developers get a glimpse of it so early? I think we can expect the n900 sooner... but i am not sure if it will have gsm.

Looks like Sept-Oct will be here sooner than later. Hehehehehe.

http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1319081

What? Nobody was saying the N97 was months away. We knew that one was coming very soon. In fact, that's the major selling point for the N97 right now.

It's the device that will make the N97 look like a kid's toy that's going to take longer...

I just hope you're right. I hope they don't wait for NokiaWorld, or even worse, OSiMWorld... But... how will they get everything done in time?

This question stems from your in-depth analysis of Fremantle's progress based on . . . a couple of public mailing list posts whose scope is limited to a single package? . . .

Yup. Call me Dr. Gregory House.

No, it's not Sarcoidosis. It doesn't explain the gtkhtml pannable area problems.

Buy N97 now and when N900 finally comes out, sell N97 and buy N900 if that looks more interesting to your friend. Who knows when N900 is going to be in shops, it's not even officially announced yet..