Comment A lot of false whining in this thread. (Score 1) 415
When you root your Android phone, you can remove any bundleware (great term, thanks!) you want - but moreover, you can change the desktop (launcher) itself, you can go with kernel variations.
Everyone's talking about root like it's something goofy.
It's simple: it's superuser (Administrator to Windows-only users) access.
You can plug your phone in to a Linux/Mac/Win machine via USB and access whatever you want via a command line.
The way God intended.
You can pay Sprint for the privilege of wifi tethering, per month - or you can root and do it yourself.
You can buy a backup application - or you can use the command line and do it yourself.
There are a few Androids that you can't do this with - such as the Droid X, where you can root it, but you can't replace the rom image.
Otherwise, if any of you are the least bit knowledgeable of why preemptive multi-tasking with superuser control of your device is a good thing, then you want Android.
It's just that simple.
And no - task killers are sufficient for bundleware and neither do they innocently sit quiescent doing nothing. The Sprint crap on the EVO - as well that most popular malware, Facebook - and that Amazon MP3 store thing - were constantly waking up.
And given that these phones use scalable processors whose actual CPU speed varies based on load and number of apps being serviced, yes, they do impact battery life.
And the rm command is alive and well.
OBTW - they say rooting voids your warranty. yeah. big deal. you can remove your root access and leave no trace.
With iOS, you violate your TOS and you jailbreak. With Android, you gain superuser (root) access.
Words mean things.