As I'm eagerly awaiting my N810 and my 'real' entry into this community - I can't but help to think of the future for Maemo and, maybe especially, the Nxxx tablets.

Maemo on future devices
Am i correct in that Maemo will be the OS for future smartphones from Nokia? If that is the case that sounds amazing as it may well blow some fresh air into application development.

Will future versions of Maemo (OS2009/Maemo 5) be able to run on older N7xx/N8xx devices?
If so that would be great. I have a Zune and even the very first h/w version (30gb) still benefits from new firmware updates and it's one thing have made me stay loyal to the brand. So once the N900 comes out..and once an OS2009 is launched...I hope that I will be able to benefit from it if I am still using an older Nxxx tablet.

OR will applications/widgets developed for Maemo 5/OS2009 be able run under OS2008?

Obviously a lot of speculations but those of you more familiar with Linux and Maemo compatability may be in somewhat of a good position to call this.

Meh, you're already here. The trick is, highjack your way in (that's what I did).

Well, it looks like Fremantle (Maemo 5) is where it's at. Unfortunately, due to hardware differences (processor, etc), Fremantle will NOT be available for the N8x0, which in turn means that some (if not most, or all) apps made specifically for it will not work on the N8x0.

Unfortunately, no Fremantle for N8x0. However, Mer (a NEW OS), which is being developed by the community, should be pretty sweet (from what I hear). And although Nokia more than likely isn't going to be updating Diablo (OS2008), we can look forward to improvements through Mer.

http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer

There's always the possibility that some Fremantle apps could be tinkered with to work on OS2008, but I wouldn't get my hopes up

But not to worry! The community is a huge part of creating new apps and whatnot, and no one is forgetting about these devices anytime soon! (Who needs corporate support?)

I'm just speculating