Thanks! I was just looking at AOKP. I'm definitely gonna go for it. I like how it still looks like
stock ICS. It says I have to make a NANdroid (<<<not sure of this?) and factory reset.
Will I lose my 4.0.4 ROM and kernel?
Still pretty new to this..
Oh boy, you need to do some research before you dive into this
I'll try to give you a quick breakdown.
1. A Nandroid is a fancy term for a backup. You perform a Nandroid backup to make an exact copy of your current setup in case something goes wrong when you flash something new. If something got screwed, you just flash back to your Nandroid and all is well. Good safety blanket. Best practice is to always make a Nandroid. I usually keep my last two and delete the rest since they can start to take up space.
2. Factory reset. This is required to clear out everything from your previous rom to ensure a proper install of the new rom. Not doing this can result in boot loops, force closes, freezes and general bugs. Good practice to always factory reset. Along with a factory reset, you should also wipe Dalvik cache. This is located in the advanced menu in clockwork.
3. Yes, you will lose your 4.0.4 rom and kernel. When you flash AOKP, it will install right over the top of your current rom. The beauty of a Nandroid - if you end up not liking AOKP, just flash back to your Nandroid and you'll have your 4.0.4 back.
4. If you plan to start playing around with flashing different roms, it's going to get pretty old losing your data every time. Invest in a good backup app like Titanium Backup. This will save your app data, so at least you can restore it after you flash a rom. If you need to save your SMS's, I suggest SMS Backup & Restore. Both of these apps are in the market. Titanium is free, but the paid version is much better. SMS backup is completely free.
5. Pay close attention to what you're installing. Most roms build from source do not have Gapps (Google apps) pre-installed. You have to install these separately. Your rom developer will always give you a link to the gapps download. So, in clockwork, you'll flash the Rom > then the Gapps > then your kernel (if you choose, this could also be flashed later). The 4.0.4 rom you flashed was a different case and actually had the gapps baked in (this will not be the case 95% of the time).
Good luck and have fun.