Update or wait?

[CMDRSTP]

Let my preface this post by stating I am new to smartphones (I recently purchased a Droid Razr Maxx still operating with "Gingerbread") AND I understand this may be subjective and may vary with personal experiences...

From what I have been reading on this forum (and, others), the "ICS" is not overwhelming positive. Heck, it seems like the download is a tossup for people. Some have success. Some don't and find many issues (no Flash support and unusual battery drain as some examples). I am sure there are other possible issues as well.

So my dilemma...to update or continue to run "Gingerbread." I actual enjoy what the phone already does with "Gingerbread."

My first thought was there will be many bugs to fix in the coming weeks or months. I would think that would be expected with any newly released operating system update. But, after seeing so many issues from people who have a VASTLY SUPERIOR knowledge of smartphones than myself, I was thinking it might be best to wait awhile before deciding on the update. Wait to see your experiences and/or of such issues will be resolved.

That said, will I be able to stay with run "Gingerbread" or will I start to notice apps (or the phone itself)not running as smoothly, or at all, after they started to be update or designed to run on "ICS"?

Please understand I am not discrediting "ICS" in any way. I have no experience or expertise to do such. I am just trying to be as informed as possible and make a responsible decision based on the experiences of most and not merely on media hype.

Any thoughts?

Steve

 

[AndroidKachi7]

Well, on the RAZR, the battery life most definitely dropped to at least half of what it was.. but on the MAXX, I imagine that still has a lot of battery left after the day is over. Everything runs really nicely in ICS, but I don't know if it's worth the trade off of battery life, and not to mention the other features lost in it. I can't really say for sure what side to take. Your choice, man.

 

[icssucks]

dont do it. if i had a genie lamp i would waste one wish on getting gingerbread back.

 

[CMDRSTP]

Because "ICS" is released...is "GB" version 2.3.6 the last update void of any future fixes or updates for the "GB" operating system?

I am afraid to check for phone updates as I am not sure I want "ICS" at this time and I don't want to accidentally download "ICS." Are you specifically prompted to accept the "ICS" update?

 

[AndroidKachi7]

You can download it now or hit "Later". It doesn't automatically download.

 

[thebeeobee]

Don't use the forums of a measure of how happy people are with something. People are here to talk about problems and issues often, and if they are happy, they are out playing with their phone and not posting about it.

Moto wouldn't have released it if the testing surveys were all negative. ICS is awesome. Upgrade. You are wasting brain power even thinking about it. Hit the button.

"GB" is just as "flawed" (well, moreso, imo)...but those flaws - people have been dealing with for the past 8 months - so the fervor has died down in these parts or people have learned to live with them or adjust to them. This is just a different set of usage adjustments.

 

[2jjordan12]

I think u should download the update the less junk you put on your phone the better chance youll have of downloading an update that works well with your maxx...my update was very buggy to say the least but after a factory reset everything is smooth sailing. Ultimately its up to you but ics is a better operating system for sure

 

[2jjordan12]

Oh and to answer your question as of now 2.3.6 is it for gingerbread there may be minor upgrades to gingerbread devices that ics wont support but not for your phone. What u see is what your gonna get

 

[jaseman]

I personally see no real advantage to ICS over Gingerbread. It's much like Microsoft shoving a new OS on us every couple of years. There's nothing really "new" just a different way to do the same thing! ICS works great...but so does Gingerbread! However, I do agree with those who say that ICS is now "missing" some features that were great. They are listed in numerous places all over the WEB so I will not elaborate here. My hope is that the powers-that-be will hear all the complaints and give us back some of those missing features that made Gingerbread so good! It figures though...everyone screaming for Ice Cream, and then complaining of brain freeze! :icon_eek:

 

[ryanr509]

I personally see no real advantage to ICS over Gingerbread. It's much like Microsoft shoving a new OS on us every couple of years. There's nothing really "new" just a different way to do the same thing! ICS works great...but so does Gingerbread! However, I do agree with those who say that ICS is now "missing" some features that were great. They are listed in numerous places all over the WEB so I will not elaborate here. My hope is that the powers-that-be will hear all the complaints and give us back some of those missing features that made Gingerbread so good! It figures though...everyone screaming for Ice Cream, and then complaining of brain freeze! :icon_eek:

And there is also things on ICS that u can't do on GB. ICS is much smoother more options and just a better setup overall. Nothing about GB that I miss. And what advantage do u see in GB over ICS?

 

[icssucks]

Its like this, if you want to have your mini pc ripped out if your phone and replaced with an iphone so your menu screen is a little smoother go ahead and update, you will be left with something that has all the headache causing limitations of an iphone, but hey at least it will be smooth.

 

[CMDRSTP]

Its like this, if you want to have your mini pc ripped out if your phone and replaced with an iphone so your menu screen is a little smoother go ahead and update, you will be left with something that has all the headache causing limitations of an iphone, but hey at least it will be smooth.

What are some limitations in your experience?

 

[AndroidKachi7]

What are some limitations in your experience?

If you go over to my thread and look up the fix for the battery problem, you'll be fine if you upgrade now. There are a few things that you lose, and I'm sure you've seen all the threads telling you what those are. I really like ICS, it just looks and feels nicer. You may not be able to use location services all the time without draining your battery like crazy, but you can toggle those on and off when you need them.

 

[bsweetness]

Because "ICS" is released...is "GB" version 2.3.6 the last update void of any future fixes or updates for the "GB" operating system?

There won't be any future updates for Gingerbread on the RAZR. ICS is the next update, and everything will continue from there.

Don't use the forums of a measure of how happy people are with something. People are here to talk about problems and issues often, and if they are happy, they are out playing with their phone and not posting about it.

Moto wouldn't have released it if the testing surveys were all negative. ICS is awesome. Upgrade. You are wasting brain power even thinking about it. Hit the button.

"GB" is just as "flawed" (well, moreso, imo)...but those flaws - people have been dealing with for the past 8 months - so the fervor has died down in these parts or people have learned to live with them or adjust to them. This is just a different set of usage adjustments.

This is extremely well said. People who have issues will be far more vocal than those who don't. Also, keep in mind that many of the complaints you're seeing come from people who aren't as knowledgeable about Android. That's not a knock against them in any way, because knowing the ins and outs of the system isn't something that everyone wants to do. But when there's a big update like this, you'll see a large influx of new users on the site who don't exactly know how everything works, and so they talk about bugs, problems, or missing features when the bugs/problems are often user error (completely unknown to the user), are due to a botched installation, or that the features have simply moved somewhere else. People don't like change, especially when change involves completely revamping what they're used to. That doesn't make it a bad update, it just means that not everyone is going to know how to take the proper steps to ensure a clean update along with being able to address issues that might come up. Now, if you were to see many long time forum members talking about major problems with the update, then you might want to take a closer look at things. But so far with ICS, that hasn't been the case.

I haven't had a single problem with ICS. Everything works the same as it did on Gingerbread or better. Is that to say that the update is perfect? No, because no update ever is. But it's an extremely stable build that's devoid of any major problems. Personally, I don't think there's any reason to wait for the update. Unless you root and make some changes, you're going to have to accept the update eventually. I say go ahead and do it now while there's a lot of people active on the site who can help if problems do come up.

 

[CMDRSTP]

Thank you, all.